


The Art of Healing

by kaedeeee



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: And MC is Doctor, Asian Main Character, Batfamily (DCU), Blood and Gore, Canon Compliant, Child Abuse, Eventual Smut, F/M, How Do I Pace, It's Gotham, It's not an Implication, Kidnapping, Medical, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Young Justice, Secret Identity, Self-Indulgent, Serious Injuries, Slow Burn, Smut, Sugar Daddy, Sugar Daddy Implications, Superpowers, Wayne Enterprises, YJ Batman is Best Batman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:34:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 51,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28279965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaedeeee/pseuds/kaedeeee
Summary: Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot.Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.[set pre-young justice but will eventually catch up to yj plotlines]
Relationships: Bruce Wayne/Original Character(s), Bruce Wayne/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 104
Kudos: 174





	1. Batman Being Fatally Injured is Inconvenient

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: I am not a health professional. My research for some of these injuries/wounds/biological processes is minimal, mostly up to my interpretation, and how convenient they will be for the plot. I apologize that they can't be more accurate. If you know a lot about health and it will bother you because it's not correct all the time, this may not be for you. I will try my best to cover up any discrepancy if anyone points it out but for now, I'm focusing on the plot and character more than the nitty-gritty medical things. That doesn't mean that all of them are wrong but there will be details I won't be 100% accurate about. Thank you for your patience!

Nadia Kim had a lot of colorful words she wanted to tell the man who had just called her ‘exotic’. However, seeing as this is a professional environment and he was her patient, Nadia thought against it. 

After a long pause that consisted of Nadia quietly accepting what had just happened to her, she goes, “You should get some rest and drink up your water. One of the nurses will come in and check up on you in half an hour.” 

“Sure thing, sweetheart,” The patient gives her a poor attempt at a wink. Nadia walked out of the room, wondering where things went wrong with the man. She took a deep breath and decided to put it behind her. It never happened. 

Tanya, the nurse in charge of that patient, was waiting outside for Nadia’s instructions. 

She was one of the nurses that Nadia had been acquainted with when she entered the ER unit. Tanya was an older woman, who's been at this hospital for decades. At first glance, one couldn’t guess. The woman aged gracefully and was as spunky as a young adult. However, when you look into her eyes you could see that stories lasting a lifetime were in there. It gave her years away.

Tanya showed incredible skill as a nurse. The woman has been doing it for her entire life. Her experience made her a hot topic when it comes to teams and shifts every year. Almost everyone wanted a chance to work with her because she was just that good at what she does. Not only that she was a lovely person to be around, anyone would vie for her. It made Nadia laugh thinking about how she was able to finally work with the infamous Tanya Fox. 

Nadia handed over the patient's medical file to Tanya. “Check up on him in thirty. He doesn't show any signs of an overdose. He’s just high. There’s nothing we can do but check up on his progress. If his heart rate drops lower than his average then call me back in and we’ll deal with him. For now, you can check up on him every ten minutes. If he improves after two hours, then he can be picked up by his guardian.” 

“Thanks, Nadia,” Tanya said, looking over the file. “And sorry about all of that, too. I would've let you know if I knew he was like that.” 

Tanya was one of two people in Nadia’s team that was allowed to just call her by her first name and not her title. She’s spent a lot of time with the woman during work and built up quite a friendship. 

“Exotic,” Nadia sighed a pained smile, reflecting on the man's words. “It’s always exotic... But you don’t have to apologize for a patient’s actions. If you want, you can ask Harry to go in with you when you do check-ups. That is if Mr. Exotic’s even awake by then.” 

Tanya nodded. “I’ll look for Harry and ask if he’s free when the time comes around.” 

“Sounds good. Keep up the good work, Tanya,” Nadia told her and walked towards another room.

Nadia could practically feel her body getting weary, she stole a glance at the watch resting on her wrist. It read, eleven o’clock and thirty-two minutes. So close... 

Nadia caught sight of Allison, the nurse of Nadia’s next patient. Allison’s appearance made people underestimate her, she had a small frame yet wide and expressive facial features. But by all means, Allison was a spitfire. Allison only started the unit a month ago. She was still getting the hang of things and Nadia had been looking over her a tad. Luckily, she was a quick learner which made things substantially easier for Nadia. 

“Talk to me,” Nadia told the nurse. 

  
“Ten years old. Vitals are all normal. His right wrist is uncomfortable and painful to try to twist around. His wrist felt overheated to me.” 

Nadia nodded and walked in. “Hi!” Nadia greeted two adults and the child in question. 

The notably young parents looked quite tired. Their eyebrows were creased with worry, Nadia could only imagine. The kid, on the other hand, looked like he was about ready to burst into tears. He must have been overwhelmed. 

“My name is Dr. Kim. I’ll be your doctor for tonight.” Nadia shook hands after exchanging names with the parents, Eric and Monica. 

“What’s your name?” Nadia asked the child. She grabbed gloves from a compartment over to the side and put them on. She sat on the stool near the chair.

“Matthew,” the child told her. Nadia rolled the stool in front of the bed where the child sat. 

“Nice to meet you, Matthew. Nurse Allison, tells me that your hand hurts when you move it. What exactly happened?”   
  


“I fell,” Matthew mumbled. 

Nadia nodded, “How did that happen?”

“Well,” the mother, Monica, spoke up. “Matthew tells us that he was jumping around in his room and accidentally tripped and fell on his wrist.” 

“Ouch, that must've been worrisome. Thank you guys for being so patient through this whole thing.”

Nadia turned to Matthew. “Okay, now I hope you don’t mind but I want to be able to see how your arm is doing as well. Since you fell, I just want to be safe. Can you rotate your shoulder for me? Like this.” Nadia demonstrated this by rotating her shoulder. 

Matthew followed instructions. 

“Any pains? Are you uncomfortable?”   
  
He shook his head, no.

“Okay, you can stop. Can you move your elbow?” She asked and demonstrated it for him to see. He copied her movements. “Feel anything off.”

He shook his head, no. 

“Very good, Matthew. It seems like you’re okay with your shoulders and elbow, if you feel anything weird there I want you to tell your mom and dad immediately, okay?” 

Matthew nodded, “Okay.” 

“I want to be able to move your hand around, I’ll be touching your wrist and hands. Will that be okay, Matthew?” 

He nodded. She turned over to the parents, to double-check. “Is that okay?” 

“Oh! Yes, of course.” The mom responded. 

“Cool,” Nadia gently took his hand into her palm. “I want you to tell me immediately when it’s uncomfortable. I don’t want you to be in pain so let me know and I will stop moving and you can go back to a comfortable position for your hand. Do you understand?”   
  


“Yeah.”   
  


“Can you open up your hand for me like you’re giving my hand a high five?” He opened his palm. “Okay very good, Matthew. You’re doing great.” 

His wrist was abnormally hot and the swelling was noticeable. His immune system was kicking in. “Can you bend your hand back away from my hand?”

Matthew made an attempt but he didn’t go back at all and shook his head, “It hurts.”

“Okay, you can stop and put your hand back. It’s no problem. I want you to rotate as much as you can so that it won't hurt.” 

He did as instructed but he didn’t get far until he stopped. 

“Is there a constant dull pain that you’re experiencing or is it noticeable?” 

Matthew shrugged, “Sometimes it’s dull and sometimes it hurts a lot.” 

“Well, this sure is a doozy. You can have either a sprain or a fracture. Since I can’t tell for sure based on what you’re showing me, I’m going to have Nurse Allison go send you to take an x-ray of our wrist and we’ll figure it out afterward.”

Matthew nodded, getting up when Allison beckoned him over. The two parents followed along. Nadia sighed. She prayed it was a sprain so that she didn’t need to administer a cast. 

Since it was nearing her time to leave, Matthew was Nadia’s last patient. She needed to take a nap. Nadia had been doing night shifts for overtime and it was taking a toll on her body. She loved being so tired that she slept as soon as she hit the pillow but sometimes Nadia would be so tired, she would skip dinner. That’s when she knew she needed to stop. 

Nadia leaned on the bed and watched as Nurse Harry came in. Harry was a strange case. The two of them entered the ER unit at the same time. He was extremely good at his job, young, and attractive. At first glance, he was very unapproachable. Nadia was regarded as a prodigy and so they both had a reputation on them. Once they got to working together more often, the two realized that they had way more in common than either could expect. Now, they’re pretty good friends.

Harry took one look at Nadia’s haggard appearance and frowned. “You should be more pumped, you’re getting off soon,” he told her.

Nadia glared at the way the light was making his bronze cheekbone more accentuated. It was nearing midnight and he still looked good. Unfair. 

Nadia grumbled, “I am pumped just drained. Did you talk to Tanya?”

“Yeah, she pulled me aside. I don’t think he’ll be awake for that long, though.” 

Nadia covered her yawn with her hand, “That’s good. Just check up on him in case.”

“Who are you waiting for?”

“Allison is taking a kid for an x-ray,” Nadia told the man. 

“Well, you have time to kill. Get a snack.” 

“Nuh-uh,” Nadia waved a finger in front of his face. Nadia notes how sluggish they were. “I am fasting for carbonara and cherry pie at Enzo’s.” 

“I never understood why an Italian place would have cherry pie.” 

“We’re in Gotham, Harry. They needed to Americanize everything.” 

Harry rolled his eyes but grinned, regardless. “Whatever, I think you’re even weirder for liking cherry pie over all the others.” 

“Pray tell, what is better than cherry pie?” 

“Apple, key lime, coconut cream?”

“Dude, I know we’re in a debate right now but damn… I’m even hungrier than before, with you naming more pies.”   
  


“You started it,” Harry retorted.

“I love cherries, though. They’re so good. You can never go wrong.” 

“But apple pie is a classic,” Harry shook his head. “Obviously.” 

“Well, honestly, at this point I just want anything in my stomach. So, we need to stop talking about food before I start feeling myself shrivel from the inside.”   
  


“Gross.”

“I know,” Nadia said. “What time are you off?”   
  


“Two.” 

Nadia grimaced at the thought. Any later, he’d be doing a graveyard shift. Nadia couldn’t believe he was going to be working so late, he doesn’t normally take late shifts. 

“I know,” Harry sighs at her expression. “I needed to be out of the house, though.” 

“Is she still upset?” Nadia asked. Harry would sometimes have relationship problems that cause him to work more and avoid his girlfriend. Nadia hasn’t heard about this issue yet but she could only assume, it’s not good.

“‘When is she never?’ is a more accurate question.” Harry shook his head, looking out the window. Nadia knows he’s over exaggerating. He seemed frustrated over whatever the problem was. 

“Harry, as your friend, I don’t want to tell you what to do but it’s not looking hot.” 

“I know, I’ve been debating other options than my current one.” 

Nadia’s eyes widened, other options? She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Nadia didn’t know if she was presumptuous for assuming he meant ‘breaking up’ as another option but it was alluding to it. She thinks that he doesn’t want to talk more about what he was going through, so she didn’t ask anything further. Nadia would wait until Harry brings it up next time. 

“Good,” Nadia lamented. “Good on you.” 

Allison came back with the family. Harry started to make his way out of the door, “I’ll leave you to it, I probably won’t see you when you leave so good night.” 

  
“Night, Harry.”

Nadia greeted the family. Matthew was situated back on the chair and Nadia was handed the x-ray picture. Nadia grinned, “Congrats, Matthew. You don’t need a cast. Your wrist is just sprained. So I can only advise you on what to do next. I’m gonna tell Mom and Dad what they should do but you should listen in so that you can remember.” Matthew nodded and Nadia turned towards the parents. 

Allison had already left the room. Nadia loved the nurses she worked with because they just got what she was thinking.

“There’s something called RICE in the athletic and medical world. Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. Make sure to remind Matthew to not use his wrist at all. If she has to use limited motions but only if she has to. But try not to use it. Then keep it iced until the pain stops. Nurse Allison just stepped out to bring an ice pack. You should’ve iced it immediately after he told you about the fall and pain but it’s okay. You guys rushed here and that’s all good too. I will compress it with bandages after talking to you and I’ll send you some bandages as well. Keep it compressed until it heals, it’ll help with Matthew remembering not to move his wrist. Then, you elevate. If he’s standing and walking around, okay. But if Matthew’s laying down and sitting, I want his wrist elevated on a table, pillow, chair, something. It should start to feel better after a few days but keep it up until the pain completely disappears. If the pain worsens, come back and tell the nurse about it.” 

Nadia moved back to Matthew with the bandage and wrapped it around his wrist. “Make sure that it’s not too tight or loose,” Nadia tells the parents as she wrapped their son’s wrist. 

Allison came back into the room with an ice pack. Nadia finished up and placed the ice pack on his wrist. “Can you hold it?” He did as was asked and she let go. 

“Okay,” Nadia said, getting up. “Lastly, if the pain becomes unbearable, over the counter kids’ medication for pain relief should ease it quite a bit.” 

The parents nodded. Nadia looked between the couple and their kid. “Do you guys have any questions before I go?”

“I think we’re good,” The mom, Monica said. “Thank you so much.”

“Oh, it’s just my job, Ma’am. I’m glad it wasn’t anything too serious, though. I hope you guys have a great rest of your night. Allison will help you with getting checked out. Hope you get better soon, Matthew,” She waved at the group. 

Matthew waved back and she grinned. What a cute kid. 

Nadia checked her watch again. Twelve o’clock and seven minutes. 

Nadia couldn’t have been happier. She was a free woman who was going to eat and sleep herself into a coma. 

—🝰—

After buying the pasta and pie take out, she headed home. 

Nadia drove down the cluttered and dim street that she lovingly called her neighborhood. Once in a while, the street lights were fixed on her street so she was able to see when she was driving. This was not one of those times. Almost every other streetlight was working, not like the people living there didn’t file complaints to the city often. They just don’t fund the area as much as they should because it’s not the face of the city. It’s dumb but Nadia has gotten used to using her car’s flashlight for directions on her drive home. 

She was just cruising along when something large fell from the sky in front of her. Immediately, Nadia hit the breaks. The squeals of the car lasted for a moment until she was at an abrupt stop, heading slamming into the back of her headrest. Nadia’s eyes widened and she could hear her heart beating in her chest. 

Any ounce of tiredness that Nadia previously felt affecting her body dispelled within five seconds. 

Taking several deep breaths, Nadia was able to calm down a bit. She put the car in park and stepped out. 

Walking to the front of her car to examine whatever the hell it was that fell, she saw that it was a person. Not just any person, from all of the sketches people, have posted on the internet and TV, she had a good idea who just fell from the sky.

Nadia believes that she had just stumbled upon Batman. 

The infamous vigilante, Dark Knights, and media proclaimed Batman. What was crazier was that Nadai didn’t think she was dreaming.

Why and how did he even fall to the ground? Nadia couldn’t even begin to wrap her head around how bizarre this was. 

Batman was unmoving. Nadia crouched down to the man. 

“Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be- Ow!” Nadia touched his shoulder where his cape was but it was hot. Scorching hot. She didn’t know why it came to be that way but being exposed to heat for a long period is not good for anyone. Making it fast, she turned his body so that he was facing her. She was able to avoid burning herself in the process. 

Nadia looked around and, of course, no one was in sight. She touched the part of his face that was exposed. 

Using her powers, she was now in tune with his body. 

Nadia had powers that were capable of healing people’s physical bodies. It made being a doctor less stressful but being a good samaritan far more. Clearly.

There was a heartbeat but it was much faster than it should be. Note: He was not dead. She couldn’t deal with slowing down his heartbeat until she dealt with the more external issues. His temperature was extremely high. She manipulated his body temperature below the average temperature to keep up with his hot suit. 

She felt around his head and he was starting to have a concussion. Using her powers, she repressed the concussion, allowing the area to reach optimal health.

If Nadia had it her way, she'd take off the suit entirely She winced thinking about how bad that sounded but quickly went back to inspecting his condition. 

It would be easier to get a gauge on his torso if she could touch that area, but there was only one part of his body that she could feel. Doing her best, Nadia tried to understand what was going on around his torso, specifically she was looking for any broken bones. He did fall from the sky, there’s no way that he merely got a bruise. She felt around as best as she could but she couldn’t gage on the bones. She felt that the organs were doing fine and there wasn’t any internal bleeding so that should cut it for now. 

If there was something wrong with his legs she could deal with it later. Should she call the ambulance? 

It’s Batman, though. He definitely would be under police custody before they thought about treating him. Don’t do it, the rational side of Nadia told her. Don’t help him. It’s not going to end up well, it’s not worth it. He’s a vigilante, nothing good will come out of you helping a vigilante. Nadia’s gaze lingered on the figure clad in black. 

Nadia sighed. 

Despite mutely debating with herself, she already knew that she wasn’t going to call the ambulance on the man. 

His suit wasn’t as hot anymore, she noted, attempting to haul him over to the car. When Nadia was finally able to secure him in the back seat, she took a moment to catch her breath. Work out more, she told herself, this was embarrassing. And for heaven's sake never try dragging a 200-pound man made of pure muscle and armor anywhere, ever again. 

At a turn of a key, the engine roared back to life. Nadia was back on track through the route that took her home. She tried not to think about how much she thought this was a bad idea. The question of whether or not she should stop the car and leave him on the street did seem appealing to her during her internal debate with herself. 

Before she could act any more irrationally than she already did, she pulled up to her apartment complex. It was a run-down apartment from the outside. It was garbage. The apartment’s facade was not something that the landlord cared about but to be fair it wasn’t something Nadia cared about either.

Nadia was able to find parking. 

After staring mournfully at her takeout and deciding to go back down later, she dragged Batman into her apartment complex. 

She’s always been grateful for the fact that her apartment had an elevator, but she never truly appreciated it as much as she did at this moment. 

Nadia hoped that no one would see her here in the hall as she was trying to drag a massively unconscious man in a costume into her apartment. God, she couldn’t explain to her neighbors even if she wanted to. 

Her keys clanged around as she tried to be fast about opening her door with 200 pounds of vigilante leaning on her. Finally, the door gave way and she lurched the man inside. In her fit, she dropped him.

Batman’s body fell with an aggressive thud. 

Nadia winced. Did that do him in?

Nadia held her breath, letting silence consume her apartment once again until she heard a groan. Oh, thank God, not dead. A dead body would be even harder to explain than a living Batman in her apartment. 

Nadia grunted as she hauled up the man. She placed him on the sofa which didn’t hold the man at all. He must’ve been more than six feet tall. His feet had dangled off the side. A unit of a human being, Nadia analyzed.

Nadia’s head perked up. Right, we’re here because she needs to treat him. She ran to her bathroom where she stores her first aid kit. It was a very advanced first aid kit with surgeon supplies that she “borrowed” from the hospital. She never knew when she would need it in a real-life scenario though, she sure made a lot of scenarios in her head to rationalize creating it. She was just overthinking as usual but the kit now has a purpose. 

Technically, Overthinking Nadia was correct.

Rushing back, she took a chair with her so she could sit next to his torso. Nadia had to wonder if there was something wrong with his airway, his breath was coming out far shallower than it should have for Batman’s stature. 

Nadia needed a clearer look inside his torso, she took a scalpel and cut through the fabric on the side. The front seems to be padding that could be bulletproof. Nadia wasn’t going to risk one of her tools at the expense of confirming. 

Nadia slipped her hand through the fabric once she cut enough and touched his chest. 

There was serious bruising, but it could’ve been worse. ‘Lo and behold, the bruising came from a broken rib. Armor doesn’t protect you from a fall of that caliber. Nadia felt around his ribcage, honing in on the bones and the muscles around it. There was a broken rib that was pushing against a lung. Definitely would’ve been bad if left for a long time especially if he wasn’t going to get medical attention.

Nadia was able to manipulate the bone back into place. Then, she excited the stem cells into regeneration between them so that the bone would seal nicely with cartilage. He would be sore but the healing process of a broken bone has been cut into a few days. 

She didn’t do anything about the bruise, it would heal in due time. Nadia wasn’t a fan of using her powers to heal minor injuries. Plus if he found out he had no injuries from falling, that would be way more suspicious and point fingers to other elements at play. Nadia wasn’t going to deal with that. 

His torso was fine for now. She didn’t see any other underlying issues. If he wasn’t injured from the fall, she would suspect that he was one of the healthiest people she’s ever treated. His physique had no problems and internal problems were almost nonexistent. 

His breathing returned to normal. She looked over at his legs. There’s no way the legs came out of this unscathed. He fell from the sky. 

Nadia took off his boots which were way too heavy to be regular boots. Batman was no joke. She touched the sole of his foot. Intune with his body, she could tell that there was tension on his bones, especially his joints. She identifies a sprain on this leg but the other one didn’t have one. 

Nadia decided that she would treat her sprain regularly so that it looked like she did something for him. Oh, right he had a concussion and a sprain, perfect for giving him some ibuprofen and letting him rest. 

Nadia wrapped his ankle in bandages while looking up at his face. She was in a panic so she wasn’t paying much attention, but now that she didn’t have to worry about him, the realization that Batman was in her house was sinking in. 

If Nadia wanted she could take off his mask and learn the true identity of the infamous Batman. She could get killed for doing that though. Nadia sighed getting up to get some ice. 

Walking back with ice wrapped around the cloth, she placed it atop his ankle. Then, she used a throw pillow to elevate it. 

Nadia sat back down looking at the giant in her apartment. This was too bizarre. 

Nadia sighed, she looked through her kit and got an IV ibuprofen. Don’t judge, Nadia was the over-prepared type. 

Nadia took his gloves off and rolled up his sleeve to his inner arm. It was a more forgiving fabric than she expected but the glove’s sleeve was tough so it made sense that the fabric underneath could be more comfortable. 

Nadia was busy cleaning his skin with alcohol. She quickly found a vein. Placing the IV’s hook on her chair so that it was elevated, she focused on puncturing the needle into the vein. 

Nadia was about to plunge the needle when a hand shot out and grabbed her arm. 

Nadia’s breath hitched and she was face to face with a now very awake and very scary Batman. 

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to those who gave my story a shot and made it to the end of the first chapter!
> 
> I really appreciate you guys a lot. I'm writing this as I'm in college, so please be patient with me as I won't be able to work on those stories 24/7. I know that's such a sucky thing to hear but I'm really passionate about this story and I will try to produce quality work for you guys. I know I still have a lot to improve on and I would like to get better as I work on the story. :) 
> 
> This story doesn't have an updating schedule I will post chapters as I finish them.
> 
> If you can leave a review with your thoughts and opinions, that would be amazing!
> 
> Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy it!


	2. Avoiding Batman Is Way Too Hard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot.
> 
> Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.
> 
> [set pre-young justice but will eventually catch up to yj plotlines]

Nadia’s eyes went back and forth from his arm to his face a few times. She realized two important things. One, that yes this was happening. And two, no it was not helping with her heart rate picking up. 

In one effortless motion, he pushed her away and back into her chair. Nadia grunted at the impact on her back. Nadia felt the bruise starting to form but used her powers to lessen the effects. 

“Who are you? Where am I?” the Dark Knight growled. His voice was so deep, gravelly, and scratchy. It made Nadia’s eyes widen. On top of that, he glared through his mask, and honestly, it was way more intense than any nasty look she’s been given by anyone else via her customer service jobs.

In Nadia’s mind that was going a million miles an hour, she had a brief thought that he resembled a kitty cat ready to pounce more than a bat. 

Well, a really big kitty cat. Like a lion. A scary lion that was very much capable of breaking your neck at a moment’s notice. 

Nadia gulped. “I’m a doctor. You- Uhm, you fell in front of my car when I was driving home after a shift. Uhm, I didn’t think you’d be a fan of hospitals. So, I took you to my apartment which was probably a bad idea, in hindsight. But, that’s where we are, uhm, in my apartment.” She felt like she was dealing with a wild animal. She kept constant eye contact with the man but ever so often she would look away. Then, she’d remind herself that it was a very wild individual that shouldn’t be shown any weakness and look back up. Nadia didn't realize how scary it’d be when he woke up. 

Batman took a while to look around. He honed in on the IV drip in her hands and exposed foot. 

“Oh! Since you fell from the sky and I didn’t know how badly you were hurt I checked around your body a bit to see if you were hurt anywhere. I think you may have a concussion just based on the… Falling from the sky… Thing. I also think that you have a sprained ankle and patched you up. You could be in a lot of pain, so I was gonna give you a drip with ibuprofen in it. It helps with pain relief. But then, you, you know, woke up. How are you feeling by the way?” Nadia spoke hurriedly. Nadia wondered if Batman got anything that she said. He wasn’t being aggressive anymore so she assumed he heard her. 

Nadia didn’t think she felt more like a chihuahua more than in this situation. She could see herself shaking soon. 

“Where do you work?”

“Oh!” Nadia came to a realization. “I never even introduced myself. Uhm, I’m Nadia Kim. I work in the ER at Gotham General Hospital but I dabble here and there. I’ve only started working for a few years now…” Nadia didn’t know what else to say. Hopefully, he doesn’t kill her or anything. He was supposed to protect people but she’s heard about the stories where he has severely hurt the bad guys. So, not being a bad guy in his eyes is priority number one. Nadia should be fine. She hopes.

“How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-five. Uhm, I’m pretty young for a doctor that just finished residency… Not to sound cocky or anything but I’m good at what I do.” Batman just stared at her. Nadia gulped and narrowed her eyes towards the man trying to gauge his reaction. He gave her nothing. 

After a long silence that made her want to crawl in a hole and hide, he spoke up again. “Why do you have an IV ibuprofen drip at your apartment?”

“Uhm, well, I do this thing where I over-prepare for made-up scenarios I think of in my head. Like what if one of my neighbors broke a bone by falling down the stairs as they were walking from it and I needed to perform an immediate surgery on the spot because that was the only thing that would save their life and I needed some painkillers because obviously if it’s a surgery it’s gonna hurt a lot so I need to prescribe them something. So I keep an emergency IV ibuprofen drip on hand… just… in case…” Nadia cleared her throat, looking away from Batman. She was going to die of embarrassment before the Bat could do anything to her, she could feel it. Honestly? Nadia could come to terms with it. 

Nadia looked back at the man. He continued to give her a blank stare. “It’s not weird,” she told him quickly, not wanting him to think anything bad of her.

“Who are you trying to convince?”

Nadia’s mouth dropped. “That was uncalled for.” 

Nadia didn’t know if she was seeing this but she thought that he was smiling slightly. Could be delusions from a long shift and no sleep, though. Batman tried to get up but then groaned. “Hey! Be careful! You’re not in the best condition and you still need to tell me how you’re feeling to see if you have a concussion. And you need rest if you do. There’s also no way you’re limping through Gotham in that getup to go back home, wherever that is.”

Batman looked over at her again, completely pausing his movements. Not much of a talker. 

Nadia sighed, “Stop being stubborn and let me help you, dude!”

  
“Dude?” He said it as if nobody’s ever called him dude before. For all Nadia knows, maybe nobody had ever. It is Batman we’re talking about. 

“Yeah. Dude. You’re a dude in a costume that fights crime at night. I have the right to call you dude. Plus, I think addressing you as Batman would make this situation way more real than I’m comfortable with.” 

“Right,” Batman said. “I’m not feeling nauseous, I don’t think I have a concussion.” Nadia knew this because she fixed it but she made an executive decision to withhold this information from the vigilante. “I do think that the sprained ankle is a pain, and you seem like you’re telling the truth to do good, so administer the IV drip. Other than that, I can’t rest until I leave.” 

“Wasn’t a problem a few minutes ago,” Nadia grumbled. He was very much knocked out. Nadia didn’t forget. 

Batman glared at her, she didn’t know how the white slits did that but it was scary. She read articles about criminals that have encountered him and noted that his glare was intense. She thought they were either cowards or exaggerating.

Nadia silently apologized to anyone she talked bad about that had encountered this man. 

Nadia grabbed the needle attached to the drip once again. She scooted back up in her seat as he laid back down. “You know, you’re way cooler about this than I’d thought you’d be.” 

“You and me both,” Batman mumbled in his rough voice. It sounded kind of awkward but Nadia didn’t say anything.

She punctured his skin with the needle, placed a clear adhesive where the skin and needles met to keep it in place, then she elevated the drip with a cotton ball, and taped it down. “I don’t know about your tolerance but considering your size this may not be enough. You’ll also feel drowsy so I think you should stay overnight and rest and leave in the morning.”

“I won’t be here for long, my ride is coming.” 

“Your ride is coming? You have a partner or something?”

Batman stared blankly at her. Yet again. “My ride can drive itself.”

Nadia’s eyes widened. “Holy shit, how rich do you have to be to get your hands on a self-driving car? Or did you make it yourself?”

All of a sudden the mood shifted. She felt hostility coming from the man in waves. Plus, Batman was glaring at her again. It was a dead give away. 

Right. That was heading towards secret identity territory. “I get it,” Nadia said, looking away from him, smiling a bit to relieve some tension. “Out of line. You don’t need to murder me with your eyes. I will move one from the subject. How are you gonna get out of my apartment? I don’t think it’d be lowkey if you left via the front door.”

“Window.” Oh, we’re back with curt responses. Great. Two steps forward and five steps back. 

Nadia whipped her head towards the man, “You just fell from quite a height. I mean, you can’t just do it again.” 

“You underestimate me,” Batman said. 

“Underestimate? No! I’m not underestimating your ability to jump off of high buildings, but doing so consistently will most definitely affect your joints in the future and cause irreversible damage. You need to think long-term… Dude.”

“Impressive. I think you care about my health more than the doctor I frequent.”

Nadia scoffed, “Obviously, doctors are a lot of the time under the helm of capitalism. There’s not a lot they can do or care about a patient without trying to squeeze more money out of them. My goal is to hopefully never see the same patient in my care ever again. However, since the medical field is so rooted in toxic influence, the healthcare system thrives on the same patient coming back.”

“You don’t seem like you’re a fan of capitalism.”

“Capitalism causes greed,” Nadia mumbled. “And greed exploits’ lives, so I’m not inclined to give it a pass.”

Batman didn’t say anything at that. 

Nadia narrows her eyes to the man. He had to be rich. No way he wasn’t rich. High-tech things like a self-driving car weren’t cheap by the slightest. However, Nadia could see him being smart enough to make one from scratch. He did have a reputation.

“When’s your ride gonna be here, Batboy?”

“Batman,” he growled back. 

“Woah,” Nadia grinned. “Didn’t take you for someone who cares about technicalities, Batsy.”

Batman took a deep breath. Nadia can only assume it was to calm down his irritation. Nadia didn’t suspect his patience for her to be so low. She did help him out, after all.

A chime could be heard from the man in front of her. “The ride is here.” 

“Hey! Hey! Be careful!” Nadia’s heart could’ve stopped there. Batman was trying to yank out the needle-like it was nothing. “Jeez! Have some tact. You’re not even done with the bag and you’re trying to tear even more skin? Just let me do it.”

Nadia made quick work to take out the needle, keeping bleeding at a minimum, and bandaging him up. “Barbarian,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head. It was useless to pretend that the man wasn’t glaring holes into her head. She ignored it. Doctor mode made dealing with Batman’s intense presence much easier on her psyche. “There, you can put on your glove now and your boot.” Nadia took off the ice pack and reorganized her first aid kit now that things were missing from it. 

By the time she was finished with that, Batman was finished getting ready. Instead of walking towards the door, he walked towards the window like he said he would.

“Isn’t this even more inconvenient?” Nadia tried to argue the man into using the door like a normal person. “Like, the window? Really? It’s kind of cliche.” 

“One of your neighbors could potentially see me. From what I can see, Linsen St. and East Ln.? Not a part of town that cares much about security. Your window faces a brick wall and an alley.” Batman summed up all of his points. “This is the most discreet I can be since you have not been.”

Nadia turned away from the Dark Knight, facing her apartment. “Fine! Whatever. I don’t care about you or the way you leave an apartment, anyway! Good riddance!”

Ndia waited for him to leave but after a few pauses, she didn’t hear him leave. That was because he didn’t, Nadia found out by Batman speaking up. 

“Thank you,” Nadia’s head whipped back to him, she was surprised. He was facing her and it didn’t seem like he was glaring at her, for once, since he woke up. “For helping me. Not for kicking me out.”

“You don’t seem the type to say thank you.” 

“I’m not ungrateful,” he told her, unyielding. “Or I try not to be.”

Nadia nodded, “Well, in that case, you are welcome. It’s been a pleasure? Can I say that? Is that weird?” 

He opened the window and stepped on the ledge. “Goodbye, Nadia.” 

Batman took out a gun looking device from his belt and quickly shot upward there as a rope connecting to the gun and whatever he shot at. “I forgot to mention,” he turned his head to her. “I have a grappling hook. So… You don’t need to worry about my joints.”

With that, he was gone from her apartment. 

Nadia scoffed out a laugh. Batman had a sense of humor. 

She closed the window and trudged to the first aid kit, storing it back in the bathroom. Even though she did get to use her overly stocked first aid kit, she didn’t want to use it for a long time anymore. 

Walking back to the sofa that Batman was once on she slumped down into it and turned on some drama. She was glad she could get that one weird and bizarre experience in her life out of the way. Nadia just casually patched up Batman and had a decent conversation with the Dark Knight. Though it was fun, she had no wish for it to continue. When Nadia told him good riddance she was not kidding. Pressing play on her remote, she hoped that Batman and her would never encounter ever again. 

You’ll never find peace of mind until you never have an encounter with Batman for the rest of your life… As they say.

Shoot! The food in her car!

—🝰—

Nadia came to work the next day, unable to fully process the effects of last night’s events. Nadia was agonizing over the fact that she chose to treat Batman out of all people. It was one thing to be nice and be a good samaritan but the more time has passed the more Nadia thought that maybe being a good samaritan wasn’t all that’s cut out to be. Ignoring him last night would probably have gained her more sleep and no raging headache when she woke up this morning. 

Nadia sighed to herself. There was a little voice in the back of her head telling her that she would have felt like a horrible human being if she ignored the man. That voice was, by all means, the bane of her existence. 

She walked to the locker room. The lights in the hospital were too bright and were only making her feel worse. She was greeted by the sun himself, Harry. They were doing the same shifts as yesterday and so they started later in the day. “Good afternoon!” said Harry.

Nadia was actually kind of disgusted by the visual pep in Harry’s step. 

“Afternoon,” mumbled Nadia.

Harry raised an eyebrow and in some weird French accent, he asks, “What? No pizzaz? No extravagance?”

“Sorry,” Nadia said laughing. It was a weak attempt at one, anyway. “I’m just tired. I barely slept when I got home.” 

“What’s wrong?” 

Nadia shrugged. “No idea,”

Nadia was never letting anyone know that Batman was at her apartment. Especially not her coworkers, despite how much she thought of them as friends. So, she opted for a little lie. It didn’t hurt anyone. God, the amount of backlash she’d get if people knew about that was something Nadia wanted to avoid at all cost. 

“I’ll keep watch out while you sleep in the bay if you want,” Harry offered. 

Nadia smiled, “Thanks but I think I just need to distract myself with work. Then, hopefully, when I get home I can just crash.” 

“That’s not healthy,” Harry mumbled. “Whatever you think is best, though. You are the doctor, after all.” 

“Exactly,” said Nadia, grinning. 

Nadia and Harry started to visit patients together. Tanya and Allison had more normal schedules but every so often they would align their schedules with the likes of Nadia and Harry. 

Today, they weren’t coming in to recover from the night shift much to Nadia’s dismay. 

Eventually, they had to split off and work in different wards. Nadia had a particularly interesting patient up next.

“So, Mr. Anneway I heard you think you have a broken rib.” Nadia was studying his medical record and what the nurse had written down of his symptoms. “And you’re adamant to talk to a doctor about it, too.” 

He doesn’t have a broken rib but he didn’t trust the nurse’s opinion. Nadia didn’t mind offering a second opinion and came to help out the nurse. 

What was especially curious, though, was the police officer posted by the man and the other one near the door. 

“Yeah, damn nurse can’t do her job right,” he sneered. 

Nadia raised an eyebrow at the man. She could tell off the bat he wasn’t one for respect but the aggressive attitude to top it off was… Well… It was something. 

“Why do you have policemen all around?” Nadia asked, trying to change the subject. “Are you anyone important?”

The man grumbled but didn’t say anything. The policeman by his side took the liberty to inform her. “He got into an altercation with Batman, Doctor.” 

Nadia froze. The mention of the vigilante threw her off for a second. She got back on track and studied the man in front of her. 

“What happened?” asked Nadia, carefully. 

“That bastard had broken my ribs, that’s what happened! I’m gonna sue him!” 

Nadia stared at the man in front of her. Batman didn’t always go against heavy hitters. Nadia felt better knowing that Batman probably doesn’t get hurt all the time. She’ll never see him ever again. Music to her ears. 

“Well, Mr. Anneway, I’m sorry to tell you but the x-ray results show that you don’t have any broken ribs.” Nadia moved the picture of the x-ray to the light board and pinned it up. “This is a picture of your ribs right now and as you can see it’s all intact. I’m sorry to inform you that you probably won’t be suing anyone, much less Batman.” 

“You’re a liar!” the man cried. “I know my own body best! I can feel it!”

“Do you mind lifting your shirt so I can feel around the side of your torso?” Nadia offered. 

“Do it, you’ll see!” 

Nadia sat on a stool and warned, “My hands may be a bit cold.” He lifted his shirt and Nadia started to feel around. She didn’t expect to feel anything but then she did. There was a bump, but it was not a bone. She poked at it a tad. 

“You feel it don’t you!?”

Nadia rushed back to the x-ray scan. Sometimes they don’t always show up on x-ray scans very clearly but sometimes they did. Sure enough, the area that Nadia was feeling the bump showed up faintly on the x-ray. 

Nadia turned back around to the man. “Mr. Anneway, I don’t want to alarm you. I believe you may have a tumor growing on your chest. I only have the bump on your chest and the x-ray to show me. X-rays aren’t always accurate. So I’d like you to be looked at using ultrasound to make sure. The ultrasound will give us a clear image of the tissue in your chest so that we can accurately diagnose it.” 

The man in front of her stared at her, mouth gaped wide. Disbelief was clear in his eyes. Nadia could understand that this was nowhere close to what he was expecting when he arrived at the hospital. “Cancer?” 

“Yes, sir. I’ll talk to your nurse and get her to prepare the ultrasound and I’ll be back. Is there anything that you need for the time being?”

His eyes were glazed over but shook his head no. Nadia took a glance at the police officer and even he looked a bit sick from the news. “I’ll be back but the nurse will come in before me. Please, if you need anything let me or one of the nurses here, know.” 

For the first time since she entered the room, Nadia missed the altruistic confidence exuding from the man. Nadia frowned. 

Nadia went out of the room and let the nurse know what was happening. The nurse was right on getting the ultrasound device set up. Nadia took one look at the monitor as she was holding the device over the man and frowned. The tissues were bundled up. She knew right away when she was touching him and used her powers. It still wasn’t always easy to come to terms with. 

Nadia explained what they were seeing and what it meant to the man. Luckily, they had an oncologist in the hospital and she told the nurse to help him set up an appointment with the oncologist soon. With a heavy heart, Nadia wished the man good luck on his journey and bid him goodbye. 

Cancer was never something easy to deal with. If Nadia wasn’t in shock and off her game, she would’ve gotten rid of half of cancer so that it wouldn’t be that bad for the man when he gets treated. Nadia shook her head, stupid. 

It wasn’t even two hours into her shift yet and she had already delivered that type of news. It never gets easier. No matter the person, it was never easy. Hopefully, they can cut the tumor right off and use chemotherapy for the rest. 

Nadia went to the rest area and drank some water. She needed to focus on the next patient now. Nadia noticed that the people in the rest had their eyes glued to the television hanging on the corner. 

Nadia turned her head to see what could be so interesting. 

**BATMAN V. JOKER ENDS IN EXPLOSION** read the headline.

Nadia audibly groaned into her cup. A few heads turned towards her in the area with questionable eyes but she didn’t care. Well, now she knew why he fell from the sky. The Dark Knight was in an actual explosion.

The headline changed to **DID BATMAN SURVIVE?**

Nadia groaned even more. This time people were glaring at her. He could’ve died in the street and everyone could have blamed it on the explosion. Of course, she had to help him and he had to survive. Nadia sighed, the curse of being a morally correct person. 

There was always speculation about whether a new fight off with a super-criminal had caused the man’s death. Every time he would come back in the form of fighting off a new criminal. Nadia always wondered what was his secret because surely he didn’t have a doctor with healing powers. The universe was against her and had a habit of wanting to see Nadia go insane. Of course, this time, he truly had a doctor with healing powers at his disposal. 

The universe was mocking her, at this point. There was no way this was happening.

Out of mind, Nadia tried to remind herself. If he were out of her mind, she wouldn’t think about it. That was for the best. That was preferred. 

Nadia threw herself into her work, after that. She didn’t even have time to think of anyone, let alone Batman. On the fifth hour of her shift, she was finally on her break. 

Nadia scarfed down her food at the table in the breakroom when Harry came in. 

They barely talked in the beginning, trying to down their food as fast as possible to get back to work. They both finished eating pretty quickly. 

“How’s your day so far?” Nadia asked. 

“This whole friendship feels like a 50-year-old marriage. You just asked me how my day went even though we had the same day.” 

“One of your patients has cancer too?” 

Harry winced, “Sorry.” 

“It’s okay, but I’m sure you had a better day than me. You always get the wacky patients when I’m not around for some reason.” 

It was a strange coincidence that occurred between the two. Nadia thinks that Harry just attracts weird patients. She would never tell him that though. He would throw a fit. 

“Someone came in with a trophy up their ass.” 

Nadia’s eyes widened, “The whole thing?”

“Kind of,” Harry said. “Their partner came with them. It was kinda sweet.” 

Nadia held in her laughter, “Yeah, romance has never looked better.” 

Harry’s eyes lit up, “You should’ve seen them in their costumes.” 

“Oh my God.” Nadia shook her head. “It’s so not fair, I always get the patients that make me and the patients sad. You get weird and funny ones.”

“Seeking butt stuff has benefitted no one, look at the last guy.”

Nadia laughed. “You didn’t need to say it like that and you know it.” 

“Oh! Did you hear the news? Batman was in a-”

“Can we just not talk about Batman for two seconds!?” Nadia explodes. 

Harry watched her with wide eyes, “Woah. What did Batman do to you?”

Nadia recognized that she was being ridiculous. Over-reacting to the mention of a man wasn’t something that made sense even to her. Batman had her too on edge today. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just everywhere I hear people talk about him and I didn’t think it was this bad. I don’t know. I’m just cranky I guess.” Nadia felt bad for constantly lying to Harry. 

“It’s okay, honestly, it is kind of annoying.” Harry shrugged. 

Nadia raised her eyebrow at him, “Really?”

“Well, yeah, we’re kind of sensitized to the things that happen with him because we hear news about him a lot. It’s also a popular topic of conversation in Gotham because he’s a symbol for Gotham. If I lived in the town that was known for Mothman and the only thing anyone ever talked about was Mothman, I would go crazy, too.” 

“Do you mean the cryptid Mothman or the superhero Mothman?”

“There’s a superhero?” 

Nadia grinned, “There’s a shtick for everything these days.” 

“Well, whatever, you know what I mean.”

“I do know what you mean and I appreciate the validation, Harry. Thank you.”

“What am I here for? Call me ‘Mr. Mood Maker Extraordinaire’. Call me ‘Mr. Getting Women Out of Their Shit Moods with my Charm and Wit Alone’.”  
  


“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Nadia’s alarm blared. She turned it off, getting up with her wrappers. “Duty calls, Mood Maker.” 

After that, the rest of Nadia’s shift was a bit more bearable. 

—🝰—

It’s been a few weeks since she brought the Dark Knight home and taken care of him. Her days returned to the routine that she’s been familiar with. Every once and a while she would remember the incident and chuckle. But with the amusement that it brought her, she was glad that he didn’t try to find her out. To kill her or something. Nadia usually shuddered at the thought.

When she thought of potentially dangerous things that Batman would have done to her, she’s reminded of a terrible memory in her childhood. Whenever her mind drifted, she would go and distract herself. In doing so, she would forget about that memory and the Dark Knight all together. 

Nadia’s life was back on track with how she thought it would go. Sleep, work, eat, read, and back to sleep. 

That was, of course, until today. Or rather, tonight. 

Nadia was getting ready for bed. She did her nightly routine to the tee. Tonight, in particular, she chose reading to be her nightcap as opposed to taking an antihistamine. Nadia picked up her choice of book and skipped into her room happy as all can be. 

That is until she was face to face with an unwelcome visitor. 

Nadia dropped her book looking at the man crouching in her room. “No,” Nadia whined before she could analyze the situation. No way this was happening right now. 

“I- I need your help,” Batman’s deep voice could barely utter the sentence before his knees gave out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhhh. Batman in Nadia's apartment seemingly hurt (yet again), what will he do? Things are starting to get interesting :) 
> 
> I was wondering if any of you guys would be interested if I included a soundtrack/playlist of music for this fic? It would be a Spotify playlist, I started on already that I use to write to but I wasn't sure if anyone would like it. Let me know what you think! 
> 
> Thank you so much for supporting the story and I hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Batman's Seeing Her but Not Like That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot. 
> 
> Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.
> 
> [set pre-young justice but will eventually catch up to yj plotlines]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)

Let’s paint the picture, Nadia was about to head to bed. In all of her bright pink cat-printed pajama glory. She was going to lay in her bed, do a little light reading before sleeping, and then sleep. This is something that comes to a rarity for her since she almost always tires herself to sleep instead of treating herself to it. Nadia thought, what the hell? It was her day off and if she wanted to read a book before bed to aid in her sleep, so be it!

Wrong. 

The fact that Batman was back inside of her apartment was giving her a completely different vibe than what she wanted. Nadia had the most rotten luck. She was about ready to lose it because of a grown man that wanted to wear spandex and fall from the sky. 

Batman doubled over and groaned in pain. That caused Nadia to get out of a trance that involved cursing out the vigilante in her head. Rushing towards him she helped the injured man onto her bed. 

As she was about to ask him if what was wrong with him, she looked over to his abdomen and saw the flesh wound. Nadia frowned. This flesh wound was different. It was turning white as she was watching it. It looked like an infection but it was accelerating so fast, if this keeps up then it would spread to his blood system. She could use her powers and fix up nicely and easily. The only problem, Batman was awake this time around. 

So troublesome. 

“I’ll be back,” she told him, running out of the room and into the bathroom. Nadia ran the hot water and grabbed the first aid kid. She ran back into the kitchen after dropping off the first aid kit near her door. Running back, with a cup in hand, she filled it up with warm water, and on the way out she grabbed a washcloth.

She could’ve used her powers, infections were a breeze but if she wanted to keep her powers hidden, she needed a more conspicuous way of healing the man. He was causing her more trouble than she’d like. 

Walking back to the room with a cup of water and the kit. Nadia assessed how much the infection had grown. Luckily, not that much from before. Nadia didn’t have much time, though, it was still growing. She placed the kit down on the floor. Nadia dampened the washcloth with warm water and started to clean around the area. Once she did all she could she went to the actual infection, making sure to be gentle in case puss wanted to introduce herself to her. 

Opening the case and got alcohol and cotton pads. They needed to sterilize the area. Stop or slow down the surface infection. Nadia used one of her hands to hold down his skin as she wiped around the area. Of course, it was unnecessary. She used that opportunity to feel around his bloodstream. 

Nadia wanted to ask the vigilant about what exactly caused this because Nadia detected bacteria in his bloodstream. It was in the early stages of blood poisoning, but it was still hazardous for people who don’t receive medical attention right away. 

Nadia was able to reverse the blood poisoning. She also took that time to lessen the infection underneath the skin. Looking back at Batman’s face, made Nadia realize how inconvenient the mask was. He was grimacing with his mouth though, alcohol and infections aren’t a walk in the park. 

“How are you doing?” 

“In pain,” he seethed. 

“Only on the wound, right? Nowhere else?”

He nodded. 

“Okay, good. I’m going to apply antibiotics on the infection and it should counter the effects, but this is extreme. I’m good at what I do but I have no idea what kind of infection grows this fast.”

Batman didn’t say anything but she assumed that he was in too much pain to speak at the moment. Nadia took out the antiseptic cream from her kit and lathered it around and on the infected wound. She felt the biology of the wound and could see that it was now stopping. Nadia suspected that she would end up reapplying every 15 minutes for the infection to decrease. After taping down a piece of gauze over the wound, Nadia was finished for now. 

“I think I’ll need to reclean and reapply antibiotics pretty frequently, so you should stick around for a few hours until I think it’s safe for you to go home,” Nadia told him. Nadia was going to use those times to reverse the infection until it heals over completely. No chance was regular antibiotics going to fix this issue. Nadia hoped that Batman didn’t know that though. 

Batman grunted but finally relaxed his body. Nadia didn’t even realize that he was so tense. It was Batman she was talking about. From her last interaction, Nadia shouldn’t have been surprised. 

He didn’t say anything afterward. Nadia thought the silence was more suspicious than anything. Gotham’s proclaimed best detective had no further questioning? Scary. 

She didn’t want to pay attention to her healing capabilities or the healing process she was administering to Batman, so she changed the subject. “What happened for you to get like this?”

“Bad timing.”

“Hmm,” Nadia carefully chose her words for what she was about to say next. “I don’t think bad timing equates to an ultra fast-growing infection. I mean, if I was a second too late then you could’ve gotten blood poisoning, and then that would have been bad timing.” 

“It’s not your business,” he told her. 

“Not my business?” Nadia frowned. “This could be a new medical condition that we should be preparing for, as a doctor, it is my business. Not to mention you went to me for help because you knew that whatever basic medical skill you’ve been using to treat your injuries wasn’t enough for this case.” 

Batman stared her down. Nadia didn’t let up. If he was going to be difficult, fine. But two can play that game.

“It’s a type of bacteria made up by someone that I was tracking down. This scientist researcher has been using it to kill select people in the city.” Batman told her. 

“Oh,” Nadia said, eyes faraway remembering an unpleasant time from childhood regarding ill-intentioned researchers. “That’s a terrible thing to do.”

Batman didn’t say anything, instead, the silence spoke for him. This was his life and that’s what he had to get used to. 

“I’m at least glad you thought fast enough to go to me, I’ll be able to get you stronger antibiotics by tomorrow if you wanna drop by. I don’t know how this infection will affect you but I’ll be able to treat the symptoms a bit for now and keep it at bay.” 

“Will you be able to find a cure for it?”

“Batsy, I’m a medical doctor, not a medical scientist. The scientists find the cure, I just understand and administer them. If anything, the cure would be quick medical attention? The scary thing about this infection is that most people wouldn’t realize that they need fast medical treatment and leave it like that for who knows how long.” 

“Unfortunate that you didn’t become one,” Batman notes. “This would’ve been easy if you could find a solution.”   
  


“Yeah, well I’m not a fan of a lot of scientists, believe it or not.” Nadia sighed. “Plus, you could’ve died if I went that route. No normal researcher has a lab in their apartment anyways.”

“No normal doctor has an IV drip in their apartment, either.” 

Nadia opened her mouth to rebuttal but the weight of his words settled and she closed her mouth back, face red. 

“Whatever,” she grumbled, looking away from the vigilante. “I don’t know any researchers that can help either. Well, not anyone that can make this top priority. My contacts are in Central City with STAR Labs. You might have better luck with your other connections if you even work with anyone.”

“I’ll just figure it out myself then.” 

Nadia’s eyes widened. Batman was just going to figure out the cure on his own? How smart was this guy? Nadia was already suspicious about how he came about a car that drove itself. If he were a researcher, it would be in biology. If he made his car then he would be a mechanic in automobiles. Nadia couldn’t say she’d be surprised by the fact that the Dark Knight was a renaissance man. 

But then Nadia remembered who she was thinking about. This was Batman. The vigilante, Batman. She didn’t need to care, nor did she care about what he was and what he was doing if it didn’t involve medication. 

“Well,” she cleared her throat, noting the long silence. “If you figure it out, let me know about it, and if we get anyone with the same symptom I could stabilize the infection.”

“Stabilizing the infection,” Batman hummed. Nadia almost didn’t catch what he said. He was awfully quiet. He didn’t continue the conversation afterward and Nadia didn’t see a need to push for his meaning either. 

For the next few hours, they didn’t speak. Every once in a while Nadia would check on the wound and clean it up. She used her powers while making sure that Batman wasn’t paying close attention to her, to see if the infection had secretly accelerated when she wasn’t paying attention. Everything seemed to be doing normally. The healing processing doesn’t seem to have started in the beginning but Nadia could tell that it was much better after a few hours. 

“I think you’ll be fine to go home, now,” Nadia told Batman. “Oh!” Nadia jolted up. She looked around the room and found a pen and paper. She scribbled down some notes and handed him the paper. 

“What is this?” Batman questioned. 

“I wrote some things that you should keep a lookout for when finding a cure to your bacteria. Note that using antibiotics as a base was heavily underlined.”

“And the number?”

“My number,” Nadia told him. Her actions were going against her grumbling from just a few hours ago. Nadia never said she wasn’t a hypocrite. “The next time you do this whole, ‘Nadia I need your help because I think I’m dying!’ thing, give me a text or something beforehand. I’m a woman if you haven't noticed. Strange men in my bedroom aren't exactly something I find comforting.” 

Batman cocked an eyebrow. “Is this going to become a monthly thing?”   
  


Nadia barked a laugh, “God, I hope not. You shouldn’t be trying to find trouble that’ll get you physically hurt, Batsy, you know better. Your line of work is dangerous though, so if it ever happens again. A heads up would be very much appreciated.”

“Who says that I need you?”

Nadia paused, she couldn't help but take a step back. He’s been doing this for a long time. She’s sure that he’s been injured the worst. It was rude of her to assume that he would continue to come to her for help. Against all of her good judgment, she felt disappointed that he had so blatantly dismissed her. Nadia had to bite her tongue sometimes.

Batman must’ve noticed that something was eating away at Nadia because he then said, “I’ll let you know when your expertise is needed. Thank you… Again. You could’ve said no but you didn’t.”

Nadia came out of her reverie. His words caused a wave of calm to wash over Nadia again and she stopped her line of thought. If he was fine asking for help she was fine helping, despite her initial rejection. Nadia smiled, “Batsy, I love doing charity cases, you should know that from the first time.”

If she could see his eyes, something told her that Batman would’ve been full-blown rolling his eyes at her. But unfortunately, she couldn’t see his eyes, so she could only smile, innocently at the man. 

“I’ll get going then.” Batman got up and moved over to her window. 

Geez, this man just hated doors or something. And just like that, the man disappeared from her bedroom and into the night. Nadia didn’t try to find him in the dark of her street. She closed the window and turned to the mess that was her bed. 

This guy didn’t know how to clean up after himself. Nadia soon got to work. She was left thinking about what would happen if he came back a third time. Hopefully, he didn’t come back. The company was kind of nice though. 

Nadia shook her head, trying to clear herself from Batman. God, she needed to make more friends. Enjoying Batman’s company was not normal. 

—🝰—

The insistent ringing coming from Nadia’s phone was heard and they were acknowledged. Nadia acknowledged it but she wasn’t a fan of picking up. She’s been hearing it more the past ten minutes, which Nadia could assume was the new record for how long Sally was keeping this up.

Nadia didn’t know why she argued with her every time if she knew there’s nothing she could do to stop her. Nadia was used to this though but for some reason, this month, Sally was much more aggressive than usual. All of a sudden, Nadia’s apartment was quiet again. The ringing finally stopped. 

Nadia relished in the silence for about five minutes until Nadia’s doorbell rang. 

Nadia looked up from her book. 

Coincidences happen all of the time, Nadia assured herself. It’s a fluke. Nadia will get up and check the peephole and it will be someone who is not related to Sally in the slightest. 

So, Nadia does just that but what awaited her was the opposite of what she wanted. It was the person she was trying to avoid. 

Sally Jackson was in front of Nadia’s door looking quite unhappy. 

Nadia winced. How did Nadia’s day off go so poorly already and it just started? 

Sally rang once more. 

Sally wasn’t the angry banging on the door type, she was the silent and patient angry that makes you feel ten times worse. You know what? Maybe she wasn’t even angry and that’s why she was so calm.

Nadia took another moment to look at her face through the peephole. Yeah… She wasn’t fooling anyone. 

Nadia wasn’t stupid so she decided to face the beast instead of waiting for the beast to be disappointed in her because one was very much better than the other. 

Nadia undid all of her locks and opened the door with a bright smile, trying to save face. “Sally! I wasn’t expecting you! How have you been?” 

“Can I come in?” Sally did not reciprocate her enthusiasm. 

“It would be rude to say no, wouldn’t it?” Nadia laughed but it turned into a grimace than anything.

Sally walked in and Nadia got to see how she was doing. 

Sally Jackson, a fifty-year-old scientific researcher and Nadia’s guardian for the past fourteen years had a pep in her step. So maybe, Nadia wasn’t in as much trouble as she had initially thought. However, Nadia could see Sally’s patience ticking away and she couldn’t help but think her analysis the most accurate that it could have been.

“What did I tell you, Nadia?” Sally asked, facing the woman. 

Nadia knew exactly what Sally told her but seeing as she didn’t agree with it, Nadia said, “And I told you that I was still going to do it, Sally.” 

“Nadia, you do not have to give me money whenever you get your paycheck. I understand the sentiment but it’s yours.” 

Nadia walked up to Sally and reached for her hands. Nadia held up the woman’s hands, noting how wrinkled they’ve become since the last time she saw Sally. 

Nadia sighed, “Listen, you saved my life. You took me in, housed and clothed me when you didn’t need to. You were also there when I was at my lowest. Like, my lowest. I want to return the favor by giving you something.”

Sally sighed, “I understand but I want you to know that you repay me by being great and living life without regrets. You don’t have to use money. I’m not even using it. I’m putting it into an account and saving it so I can give it back to you one day.”

“Just accept it, Sally,” Nadia said. “It would make me happy that you’re accepting something from me. Donate the money to charity or something if you don’t want to use it. But it’s a sign of my appreciation, we’ve been over this before.”

Sally stared at Nadia that told Nadia she wasn’t impressed but eventually, gave into Nadia’s smiling face. Sally shook her head, “You’re ridiculous.”

“Great!” Nadia grinned. Then quickly changed the conversation before Sally thought too much about it. “What were your plans for today aside from visiting your favorite daughter-figure?”

Sally gave her a weird look, “You’re my only daughter-figure.”

“I’m glad we agree,” Nadia grinned. “So? Plans?”

“One, chew you out. Two, hang out with the person I chewed out if we resolved it.”

“We didn’t technically resolve much but I think we left it on a good note. Still wanna hang out?”

Sally shook her head but Nadia could see the smile she was trying to hide. “You’re ridiculous. What do you have in mind?”

“I’m so glad you asked.”

—🝰—

“Don’t you think you’re too old for this?” Sally asked. 

“Old for what?”

“The circus, Nadia,”’ Sally laughs. “The goddamn Haly Circus.”

“Sally, where’s your sense of adventure? Maybe you’re the one too old for this. I feel sorry for you, I do.” 

Nadia linked her arm with Sally’s to navigate between the huge crowd that’s formed in the circus. They had just finished paying for their admissions. They were walking around the circus grounds, killing time for when the circus would start. 

“I mean this genuinely, you are ridiculous.”

“C’mon, no more of your negativity. We’re gonna have fun today!”

Sally may be complaining to herself but going to see a circus was one of the first things they did together that made Nadia genuinely happy. Nadia didn’t have a conventional childhood. However, whenever there were good memories from back then it would always be with Sally. One of which was the circus. The original one that they visited wasn’t Haly’s Circus but it was a tradition that Nadia latched on to after seeing it. 

The two went around and bought overpriced popcorn, funnel cake, and drinks. They found a spot to sit down to eat a bit before their show began. 

“How’s research been at STAR Labs?” Nadia asked her guardian. 

“Slow, believe it or not,” Sally grumbled. “I’m planning on retiring soon but I’m invested in this new nano-tech that they greenlighted a few months ago.”

“Cool,” Nadia commented. 

I think you’ll like it.” Sally nodded. “It has to do with hospital surgeries, when we’re done, I’ll send you the journal and you can check it out yourself.”

“Thank you,” Nadia smiled. “I love it when your research has to do with the medical field. I know it’s pretty rare.”

“Yeah, well, enjoy hearing any of the projects while you still can.”

“I still can’t believe you’re retiring from researching, you’ve been at it for more than thirty years. Don’t you think you’ll miss it?”

Sally shrugs, “Sure I will. I think it’s better this way, I’m getting older and there are more competent young people coming into the field that could do more than I can. I want to pass on the mantle to them.”

“It’s a shame,” Nadia frowned, taking a bit of the funnel cake they were sharing. “You still have it in you, Sally. No matter whatever these young folks are like. Age is just a number.”

“I, also, started to become more interested in teaching and doing lectures. My interests changed.”

Nadia shook her head watching Sally eat popcorn after saying that. “It’s amazing you can switch careers on a whim like that. Not many people consider or even have the option to do so.”

“You can when you get to my age,” Sally said. 

“I could, but I’m fortunate to be able to study in a field where it’s not compromising if I did. I’m happy for you, though, I think it’s important to be able to stimulate yourself intelligently.”

“And who taught you that?” Sally asked, grinning. 

Nadia’s eyes narrowed but she was still smiling, “This was a set-up.”

Sally laughed, “Maybe.” 

Sally started to talk about some new workers at Star Labs. She told Nadia about this attractive young man that had just joined and how Sally thought that Nadia would like it. Nadia denied the suggestion like the other times Sally brought it up. Sally was interested in setting Nadia up with someone. Sally never had children of her own but Nadia thinks that Sally’s inner mother comes out when she brings up a relationship as a topic of conversation. 

Unfortunately for Sally, as per usual, they moved on from the topic. 

Nadia’s mind wandered to her encounter with Batman. Could she tell Sally? Nadia hadn’t spoken to anyone about it. She didn’t think anyone would understand her position and it’s dangerous to be associated with Batman. Nadia’s only helped Batman out two times, if Nadia didn’t count when he came over for the stronger antibiotics. It’s not like she was making it into a habit. 

Nadia wasn’t the type to gossip but this was a huge secret and Nadia wasn’t one to hide things from Sally. She felt like it would be wrong of her to not even mention this to Sally. Sally has been through even more dangerous things in the past, working with the government. If anyone can understand Nadia and keep a secret it was Sally. 

What could go wrong?

“So, something interesting happened a few weeks back,” Nadia said, deciding to only mention the first encounter. It would soften the blow if Sally didn’t react well to the information. Nadia predicts the reaction won’t be positive.

“Please don’t tell me about weird patients. I was over it when you talked about the wrench story.” 

Nadia laughed, “No, nothing like that. I swear. Something unrelated to the hospital.” 

“Okay… I’ll shoot. What happened?”

“So, I was driving back from a night shift one day and on my drive, I encountered… Batman who fell from the sky and was very much injured to the bone.”

Sally blinked. “You didn’t…”

“I did…” Nadia winced. Yeah, this reaction was why Nadia didn’t want to say anything but she was already in it. Nadia can’t back down now. “I helped him and healed him but it wasn’t anything obvious. I did most of the healing when he was unconscious. Then, left the obvious stuff for natural healing.”

“Nadia!” Sally whisper-yelled. “How could you use your powers on Batman of all people?!”

“He was hurt,” Nadia shrugged, trying to respond as quietly as Sally. “What was I supposed to do? Leave him? You know I’m motivated by my impeccable conscience.” 

“Nadia, he’s not dumb. From what I’ve heard, he’s really smart and dangerous. You shouldn’t be associating yourself with him if you know what’s good for you.”

“I know,” Nadia relented, sighing. “It’s okay, though. Seriously. I knew what I was doing, and since I was helping him, he didn’t attack me or anything.” 

“You’re lucky he didn’t mistake it for anything else,” Sally pointed a finger at her.   
  


“I hear you, Sally, I do.” 

“Good thing it was only a one-time thing” Yikes. “But Nadia, sometimes you’re too helpful for your good. You can and should say no to helping people you don’t feel safe around.”

Nadia was going to avoid the first statement and pretend she did not hear it. Nadia continued, “You’re being silly, Sally, if I didn’t treat people I didn't feel safe around I’d be a pretty shit doctor. I live in Gotham, I have more unsafe patients than safe ones on most days.”

Sally shook her head, “Despite everything, I’m glad you’re a good person. That’s crazy that you bumped into and helped Batman, though. You have a much more crazy life than I’m comfortable with.”

“You should know best, considering how you found me when I was younger,” Nadia shook her head. “But I didn’t know you’ve heard about Batman. You have your hero to worry about.”

“Well, I want to know what’s happening in your city. If it’s safe where you’re at.”

“Sally, this is Gotham we're talking about,” Nadia laughs. “Safe is sadly not a guarantee.” 

“Well, be careful I saw on Gotham Post that they’ve been a string of weird charity robberies lately.” 

Nadia wanted to question Sally on it more since Nadia didn’t have time to keep up with current events but the two noticed how people started to head into the circus tent, pulling their conversation to a full stop. 

“We should start heading in,” Sally suggests. 

  
“Let’s go,” Nadia grinned, getting up along with Sally. “I’m so excited!”

Sally smiled at her as they walked in with the crowd, “It’ll be fun like the old days.” 

“I have no doubt.”

They found their seats. 

The show followed soon after they had the usual lion trainer act, the strong women, invisible man, tight-rope, acrobats, and everything in between. 

Nadia had been going to Haly’s circus ever since she started to live in Gotham and she had to admit this was a well put together circus. There were new acts every year but there were also acts that have been there since the beginning. Nadia heard that the family of acrobats, the Flying Graysons, have been on tour with the circus for more than a decade. Nadia wondered what it would've been like if she was able to grow up with Haly’s circus. 

Nadia watched all of the performances and remembered how she felt the first time she saw the circus. They had crazy cool talents and they were unapologetic about how they acted and expressed themselves. Nadia knew that her powers weren’t always sunshine and flowers like their talents were but she knew that using your gifts for good was more important than anything else. 

Nadia shook her head, realizing she was over analyzing and overthinking yet again. 

Just enjoy the show. 

So, for the rest of the night, Nadia watched the cool and amazing tricks that they did taking in the atmosphere. Everyone was happy and intrigued. Nadia was just as inspired as she was a decade ago. 

After the performance, Nadia and Sally were walking away from the tent. In the middle of talking about their favorite acts and parts, a loud gasp could be heard above the ground. 

Nadia whipped her head around and saw that a circle was forming around someone, with people talking in hushed tones. Nadia and Sally walked up to the crowd and saw a man lying down. She witnessed a small child crouching down next to him. He wasn’t moving. 

Another man from the crowd crouched down and started to ask if he was okay. 

No response. 

“Excuse me, I’m a doctor,” Nadia excused herself as she rushed over and crouched down, “Sir, are you okay?” 

Nothing.

“Uncle?” The wide-eyed child shook his uncle. No response.    
  


Nadia turned the man over. He was breathing which was a good sign. Hand on his neck, she took his pulse. Normal. 

She didn’t know what was wrong. She heard someone volunteer to call nine-one-one. Nadia could hear Sally working for crowd, telling them to back up. 

She observed the man’s face. It was a fairly hot summer day at the moment but he wasn’t sweating. His lips were chapped. 

“Hi, what’s your name?” I asked the child with him. 

“Harper,” the child responded, voice shaking. Nadia’s heart went out to the child. 

“Hi, Harper, I know this is very scary right now but I was wondering if you can answer two questions for me, it would help your uncle.”

Harper looked up at Nadia with big eyes and nodded. 

“How long have you and your Uncle been hanging out?”

“Two days!” 

“Two days? Very good Harper, you’re doing great.” Nadia encourages. “And do you see him drink water?”

“Water?”

“Yes.”

“No?” Harper told her. “I don’t think so.” 

Nadia thanked Harper and turned back to Sally, “I think he may be severely dehydrated.”

“Is that possible to pass out from dehydration alone?” Sally asked. 

“Extreme cases but he could also be anemic. Let the operator know.” 

Nadia touched his pulse again but this time it was so seeing what was going on with his biology. She looked around and his kidneys said everything they needed to. Dehydration. Followed by his blood platelets. He was anemic. So it was a combination of the two, he must also be slacking on his supplements if he wasn’t drinking water. Or using some other liquid to intake the pills and they weren’t the best. 

Nadia pushed her powers into him and tried to transfer some of her health into the man’s body. She started to feel tired and sluggish but the man was gaining consciousness again. She couldn’t have added water from anything but transferring health was something that she’s done before. She does it at the expense of herself, which Sally doesn’t like her doing but serious dehydration is the problem and it can’t be helped.

The man opened his eyes and shot up. 

“Oh my!” Nadia exclaimed, falling back at his abruptness. 

“Uncle Elliot!” Harper greeted in delight.

He groaned, cradling his head with his hand. 

“Sir, please be careful,” Nadia told him. “I’m a doctor, I believe you may be dehydrated, you’ll feel dizzy and fatigued.”

“Oh my God.” He groaned. “This sucks so bad.”

“Someone has called for an ambulance, please, I think it’s better that you’re laying down.” Nadia coerced him to lay back down. “Someone will come and help you, soon.” 

The man laid down and was staring at the night sky before turning his eyes to Nadia for the first time. He blinked a couple of times and looked at his niece. “Hi, Harp.” 

“Uncle Elliot!” Harper exclaimed, too loud for his uncle to be okay with but he didn’t say anything. “Are you okay?” 

“I will be, don’t worry.” 

“Can we go home?”

“Not yet,” Elliot told his niece. “The nice doctor said I have to lay down and go to the hospital before going home first. You have to listen to the nice doctor, Harp.”

“Right,” Harper nodded. 

Nadia noticed that more people were walking away after realizing the man was doing okay. The person who volunteered to call nine-one-one was sticking around and talking to Sally. 

Nadia turned to the man, Elliot, “Is there anyone you want to call to pick up Harper? We can stay with her until they come to pick her up.” 

“I’ll call them later, I kind of don’t get to take her out often. I least want to be in the right mind when I let Harper’s parents know.” 

“With all due respect, Sir, I think they’ll understand.” 

Elliot just waved his hand in dismissal and looked back at Harper, and started to talk to her. He complimented how calm she was during it and how it must have been scary. Nadia and Sally waited until the ambulance came. Nadia let the paramedics know what she thought the cause was and that they should put him on an IV drip. They started to set everything up and got Harper settled into the ambulance. 

Before Elliot was put on the gurney, he said, “Can I get your name? I would like to know the name of the person who saved my life.” 

“I didn’t save your life,” Nadia smiled.

“I said basically.” 

Nadia laughed. “I’m Dr. Nadia Kim. I hope you get better.” 

Then the paramedics took him away with Harper in the ambulance. 

After a while, it was just Nadia and Sally again.

“Never a dull day with you,” Sally smiled. 

Nadia rolled her eyes, grinning. “You should know best.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nadia and Batman are getting along fairly well and now we're introduced to Sally. Alongside Sally, is a bit about Nadia's past. Super excited to write more for you guys!
> 
> I linked the playlist that I use to write to in the beginning notes. It's more of a fun little thing you guys can have and maybe even listen to when you're reading. :) 
> 
> Thank you so much for supporting the story and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	4. A Heart to Heart With Batman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot.
> 
> Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.
> 
> [set pre-young justice but will eventually catch up to yj plotlines]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)

A few nights after Sally and Nadia’s day together visiting the circus, Nadia was getting ready to head home at normal people hours. This was very shocking for several reasons. One, Nadia never goes home from work before ten p.m. Two, Nadia took a day shift for once in her life.

Nadia traded shifts with Dr. Wesley for today. Dr. Wesley had an event she needed to get to early in the day and so she opted for a night shift. Nadia didn’t have any plans ever so she was happy to switch with the woman. 

Nadia intended to use this day to treat herself to dinner which she never has time for most days. 

After work, Nadia went around running errands. It wasn’t the most exciting thing she's ever done but Nadia was ready for normalcy. Having Batman interactions all the time made her think that she was in a movie. It made her feel like some fictional character. Nadia needed this. A steady pace. She decided that that was the answer to her problems as of late. Plus, sleeping early for once, it’s going to be nice. 

Nadia took time to just drive around in between shops, listening to music, and letting her mind not think for a few hours. She also needed a break from the fast pace of her work. Nadia rarely uses her days off to be present. She would much rather catch up on sleep that she’s been missing out on. 

Getting home, she rearranged her refrigerator with all of the food she’d just bought. She needed to get ready to make dinner for herself. 

Nadia, during her grocery shopping, planned to make noodles for dinner tonight. She put on some music and started preparing the ingredients. Chopping and dicing here, oil and frying there, Nadia finished creating her meal. She changed into sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt after she finished making her stir-fried noodles. 

Afterward, Nadia sat down and started to dig into the noodles. She bought herself a new book on the run. It was a small bookstore that Nadia visited every once in a while to see if they had any new releases. Nadia visited so often, she had built up a repertoire with the shop owner. The owner recommended a book today and Nadia was keen on starting it as soon as possible. So, she read as she ate and eventually finished up dinner.

Nadia bookmarked her book and turned on her. She sat down on her couch with a cup of tea. For a long time, she channel surfed between action movies and romcoms was was on until her cup was cold.

Nadia, overcome with a wave of exhaustion, checked the time. It was only eight in the evening but she didn’t even get sleep the night before. She placed the cup on the coffee table and snuggled into her blanket. Nadia predicts that she’ll eventually wake up on her own and walk to her bedroom. So she allows herself the nicety of falling into a slumber in her cozy living room. 

That would have concluded the rest of her night if not for the loud sound that made her jump awake. 

Nadia’s eyes shot open, gasping at the sound that blared through her apartment.

She sat up in a hurry and looked around but she didn’t hear anything in her apartment. In Nadia’s exhaustion, she forgot to turn off the TV. She blinked a few times before watching a building being filmed. 

Nadia rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes and read the bottom text.  **CHARITY EVENT ROBBERY IN PROGRESS** it read. 

What?

“Currently, we aren’t getting any updates on what’s happening on the ground. It’s still at a standstill. We’ll be back when we get more- Wait- Is that Batman? Zoom into that spot.”The camera zoomed in to a moving spot from a helicopter. “Batman is now on the scene. Hopefully, he’ll be able to diffuse the situation.” 

Nadia couldn’t wrap her head around what she was seeing. Nadia must have accidentally changed the channel earlier. She was still half asleep so she couldn't think clearly. Batman was at a robbery in progress?

Nadia vaguely remembered Sally mentioning robberies occurring the other day. Nadia didn’t suspect that Batman was on the case. In hindsight, she should have.

Nadia couldn’t believe what she was seeing on the screen. Even though Nadia had been helping the man, she didn’t try to rationalize her involvement with the man all that much. 

This man who is on TV right now, trying to stop a robbery, has laid on the same couch that she was on right now. Hell, he’s been on her bed. 

Nadia didn’t know what to describe what she was feeling but it was strange. How was she associated with someone doing all of those things? It didn’t make sense to the doctor. 

The reporter was back as things escalated quickly. The people watching the news could see that flashes from the building were going off. Nadia could only assume that shots were being fired. A window on the first floor of the building broke with someone flying out of it. The lack of a cape made Nadia sigh in relief. Batman was okay. Whoever that person was, was not. 

More shots were fired inside of the building. 

There was a pause for a suspicious amount of time. 

Then, people started to walk out. They looked like civilians, scared civilians, by the way, they were shaking and holding onto each other, but safe civilians. 

Batman walked out after them, carrying someone. Nadia couldn’t see clearly but she could swear that he had a slight limp. His strides were less confident and more hesitant. Batman dropped that person off on a gurney. Before any of the police officers on the scene could come to their bearings and ask him for his involvement, he shot off and away from the scene. 

Nadia took a few seconds to process the events. She had spoken to the man twice but she didn’t like how seeing him limping made her feel. It was like seeing with her own two eyes how he got hurt made her insides uncomfortable. It wasn’t sitting right with her.

With Nadia’s powers, no one should be hurt.

The news anchors were raving about how Batman had saved the day yet again. They also compared public opinion of him which was always a split between positive and negative.

A few minutes passed and her phone chimed. 

**_UNKNOWN NUMBER_ **

_ ETA 2  _

This couldn’t be… 

Batman used Nadia’s number to talk to her. Woah. Nadia didn’t know if he would seriously do that or not. 

Nadia couldn’t wrap her head around having a direct line to Batman. To be fair, she’s only wrapping her head around helping Batman now. 

And thinking of him as a potential friend… Maybe she went too far with that… An acquaintance that she didn’t want to get hurt would be more accurate. This was Batman we’re talking about. 

Nadia quickly typed in Batman into the name slot of her contact before she could think too much into it and realized that she accidentally typed Boatman. 

She paused. Well, if she put his contact as the real Batman, then it would suspicious if anyone ever went through her phone. After some deliberation, Nadia decided to keep the name. Boatman was good. A good codename on top of another codename. 

No one would suspect. Surely. 

After two minutes, Nadia watched her window open and the man of the hour climb through. 

So much for that calm night. 

“Let me guess, bullet wound?” Nadia called over to the man from her spot on the sofa. 

He turned to her and despite not seeing his eyes, she knew he saw the news channel she was watching. “You’ve been keeping up.” There’s that gravelly voice. As long as his voice continues to resemble Gotham construction sites, Nadia believes that the man will be okay. 

“Not purposefully. I was asleep thirty minutes ago and the TV made a loud sound making me wake up causing me to witness your heroics.” Nadia smiles softly. 

“Bullet wound, remember?” 

“Oh! Right!” Nadia’s body sprung up from the couch into action. She shook off her sleepiness alongside the blanket she was using. “Sit at the kitchen table, I’m not a fan of blood on my rug!” 

She rushed to her bathroom to get the first aid kit. This was getting so inconvenient. Nadia might need to invest in two kits, one for the kitchen and the other for her bathroom. Speaking of which, she was running low on supplies. She sighed. Mental note, get more medically helpful items. 

Nadia walked back to the man bleeding in her kitchen. 

“Where’s the wound?” Nadia placed the kit on the table. 

“Thigh,” Batman told her, he placed his foot on another chair to lift his leg and show her. She only saw the fabric hole and blood. 

“Do you need ibuprofen?” Nadia asked. It’s going to be painful, as with any wound. Nadia knows that he accepted ibuprofen the first night they met but he didn’t the last time they saw each other. 

“I need the bullet out.” He tells her instead, giving her her answer. 

“Fair,” Nadia nodded. She put on a pair of gloves and grabbed dissecting scissors and a pair of forceps after sterilizing them. She turned on a flashlight and looked back up to the man. “You don’t happen to have a latex allergy do you?” A stare met Nadia, that told her ‘No, Batman did not have a latex allergy despite being a caring doctor that asks important questions you’re stupid for thinking so’. Well, Nadia may have added on a little bit into her interpretation. “Do you mind holding up this flashlight to the bullet hole as I poke inside it?”

Batman’s mouth parted only a little bit like he wanted to say something to her but he seemed to have chosen against it in favor of grabbing the flashlight. He held it up to the wound. 

Nadia cut his pants enough for her to see the wound. 

Nadia used one hand to keep the wound wide enough without tearing it up further and the other, she maneuvered the long forceps inside. She was halfway deep with the forceps when she met the end, more importantly, the bullet. She could feel that the stop was abrupt, nothing like a muscle, where it would still give some leeway. 

Nadia grabbed the bullet with the forceps, causing Batman to hiss in pain. Nadia mumbled multiple apologies as she removed the bullet from the man’s leg. She placed it on the table and took a cotton swab with alcohol, she disinfected the wound. Batman’s head fell back and she could see how he was physically stopping himself from making a sound. 

Nadia took a needle and surgical string, disinfected both of the two, and carefully stitched up the hole. Her quick motions made it much easier because Batman’s leg didn't start shaking slightly until the very end when she was finishing up. Nadia disinfected the stitches one more time, Batman took an extra deep breath because of that one. 

“Done!” Nadia announced. “Do you want me to sew your pant leg?”

“No point,” Batman said, leaning back into his chair. 

Nadia nodded and applied some cream on the wound for good measures. She covered the stitch with gauze and told him that she was officially finished. Nadia got up and cleaned everything, throwing away her gloves in the process. She traced back Batman’s steps and saw that he didn't bleed on her rug. Batman must have held onto the wound because there wasn't blood anywhere. Good man. 

Nadia handed him a washcloth and immediately blood soaked the cloth from his hands. He scrubbed the blood from his hand and pant leg. It must have been convenient to wear dark clothes and bleed because no one would even suspect. 

Nadia sat down across from him, taking time to revel in everything.

“You are Batman,” Nadia mumbled, studying the man in front of her. 

He paused in his cleaning and turned to look at her. “What?”

“Even though I've helped you out a few times I don’t think I truly realized that you’re Batman and not just some patient that frequents.” He didn’t say anything to that so Nadia continued. “Seeing you come directly from a crime scene and seeing that you got shot from it. That was surreal. Like, I knew you were Batman but I was so disassociated with what you had to do in this line of work to understand that you are Batman. The guy going up against the Joker, who has taken many lives in the past, is in front of me right now. How do you live like this?”

“Well, if your offer to help stands, you’re going to have to get used to it,” Batman told her, going back to ridding himself of his blood. 

Batman didn’t say anything after that and Nadia didn’t know what else to say to him. Nadia watched him as he got up and headed to the window. “Thank you for the help,” He told her. 

Then, he vanished into the night. 

Nadia frowned, did she cross a line? Nadia couldn’t believe she went through her thought process about how she didn't even perceive Batman’s job as being a real thing because she didn’t pay attention to it. 

Nadia didn’t properly think through her words. She asked the man who goes out and risks his life for his city, how he lived like that. What was she thinking?

For the first time since she started helping the Dark Knight, she was hoping that he would come back. She owed him an apology.

Nadia groaned. Why was she like this?

—🝰—

Two days after the robbery, there was another. 

She was on her break when Dr. Winona Wesley walked into the breakroom, joining her. Dr. Wesley was the one who usually asks her to swap shifts all the time, like the other day. Unlike Dr. Wesley, Nadia did not have kids to worry about so whenever Nadia found time to switch, she would help the doctor out.

“Nadia!” Dr. Wesley’s eyes lit up. “Thank God, I found you. I’m pretty close to the end of my shift but I still have one more patient left.” 

“Do you want me to take over?” Nadia smiled. She already knew that Dr. Wesley would ask for help so she offered before the doctor could proposition her. 

“You would be a lifesaver,” Dr. Wesley gushed. “Tomorrow or should I say today is big for the kids. I didn’t want to be the one to miss out on it.” 

“Consider me a lifesaver, Winona,” Nadia grinned. “I’ll cover it. I have a few more minutes on my break, I’ll head over to the room and you can introduce me.”

“We’re in 320.” 

“Sounds good, see you there!” Nadia called the doctor. 

Nadia finished up her food and walked out to Dr. Wesley’s room. Nadia peered in, slightly knocking on the door to announce her presence. 

“Hi, Dr. Wesley,” Nadia greeted the woman. 

“Hi!” Dr. Wesley greeted Nadia. “Jane, this is Dr. Kim. She’ll be taking over for me since I have to leave soon. Again, I apologize but Dr. Kim is one of the most reliable doctors I’ve met. You’ll be in good hands.” 

“It’s not a problem, Dr. Wesley, thank you,” Jane told her. 

Nadia was given the folder of her file and started to review it. Dr. Wesley caught Nadia up on the patient. “She was shot in the foot, she went in for surgery to get the bullet removed and stitched up. You just need to look over her general overview and give her care instructions. I owe you a bunch, by the way. Please let me know if you want me to buy you lunch or dinner one of these days.”

Nadia shook her head, “Seriously, don’t even think about owing me. You’re fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” 

Dr. Wesley relented and bid her and the patient goodbye. 

Nadia turned to the woman on the bed. “Jane, was it?” 

“Yes,” she nodded. 

“Well, Dr. Wesley caught me up to speed with everything that’s happened to you. Are you feeling comfortable now? The surgery should have made you quite numb in the area of the wound.”

“I’m doing okay, for now.”

“Do you have someone coming to look after you soon?” 

“I believe so,” Jane nodded. “Dr. Wesley told me that the hospital contacted my sister. She should be coming soon.” 

“Perfect,” Nadia nodded, writing down more things that she needed to cover with the woman. “I’m going to be going over all of the care instruction that you’ll have to do for your wound for the next month. I’ll also find you a few handouts, so by all means you don’t have to remember everything I say a word for word, just the general instructions. When your sister comes, I’ll let her in on it, too.” 

Jane nodded her head in agreement. Nadia went over everything that Jane needed to know. In the end, Nadia handed Jane the leaflet about the guide to stitch care. 

Nadia was standing at the end of Jane’s bed when she felt like she thoroughly went through everything important. Nobody had called Nadia for help so she thought that she could take time to talk to Jane. She was curious about the wound.

“So, what happened to you? How’d you get shot?” Nadia asked. “Dr. Wesley didn’t let me know about it. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, though.” 

“I was at a banquet for my company. Usually, we would bid for items as a fun thing to do but all the money would go to the local homeless shelters. I guess, those people who have been on a serial robbery got wind of it and they targeted us.” 

“Oh my…” Nadia frowned. The robberies were serial. Nadia didn’t even think that was a thing. The fact that these people are targetting charities was what made Nadia confused. Were they trying their darndest to be evil people? Nadia could think of a million things to steal from that would be morally better than charities by a landslide.

“I know,” she shook her head. “The main guy took me hostage so that someone could transfer him the money but… I don’t know what happened... I don’t think he was getting answers fast enough so he shot me as a warning to speed things up.” 

“I am so sorry that happened to you.” Nadia frowned, that was terrifying to even think of. 

“It’s okay, I’m just glad that Batman got there in time. I’m not sure what else the man would have done if he wasn’t there. He seemed unhinged.” 

Nadia’s eyes widened. “Batman came in time?” 

“I mean, I did get my foot shot at, but it was better late than never.” 

“Right,” Nadia looked away. “Sorry.” 

“It’s fine, I mean it happened. I’m grateful to him… Batman. I think I’ve been consuming a lot of anti-Batman news, too much, I’ve been judging him for just going out at night and being a vigilante. At the same time, I’ve never been in a situation where I needed him. And he was there when I needed him. I gotta say, it’s a lot more impactful. Wish I could say thank you to the guy. He does a lot of good.” 

Nadia nodded along with the woman. 

Nadia was definitely in the same mindset. Viewing Batman as a type of burden had a lot of influence from what the police were feeding the public about the man. Not to mention, all of the supervillains that popped up when he did. However, he’s done so much more good than that and Nadia had to give it to the man. 

If he weren’t out every night doing all the hard parts and lowering crimes, more people would be hurt or gone. Nadia’s job may be a lot more difficult than she’d imagine. 

Despite all of Nadia’s grumbling about not wanting to be associated with the man, she was honored to be helping him out. It’s only part of the reason why she says yes whenever he shows up. 

Batman made people feel safe. Honestly, that’s all that Nadia’s ever wanted to do for other people, as well.

Nadia finished talking to Jane and told her to call up a nurse if she needed anything. She moved onto the next patient, checking up on Jane when her sister arrived later. 

Nadia went home that night knowing that she owed Batman a real and formal apology for how she’s been treating him. Nadia didn’t care that she didn’t always verbally express to him that she wasn’t a fan. Batman wasn’t dumb, she was sure he was getting her energy the entire time. 

—🝰—

On an unassuming night, Nadia walked into her apartment back from work. She made sure to close and lock the door, only to find them useless when she was greeted by the Dark Knight sitting in her kitchen. Nadia didn’t know if it was a particularly good thing that she stopped jumping at an uninvited man in her home. 

“You didn’t text,” Nadia studied him, to see what injury could be the problem this time. “I was at work.” 

“It’s fine, I knew.”

“You knew?”

“I hacked into the hospital and I have your schedule,” Batman said like he was commenting on the weather. It really wasn’t as nonchalant as he made it out to be.

Nadia’s eyes widened, mouth agape. “You hacked and got my work schedule?” 

Batman just stared back at her. His silence spoke for him. 

“For some reason, I’m not actually that surprised. It explains a lot.” 

Perfectly timed needs of help, knowing when crime happens as they happen, and a load of other things. Of course, the man hacks. 

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything more. 

“So, Mr. Batman,” Nadia said, putting down her bag on the couch and walking to the man. “What do I owe the pleasure? I saw you were doing good work on the news, you haven’t been around for a while.”

And it was very much true. Nadia started to pay more attention to the Dark Knight’s work, more than she’s ever done. It was almost obsessive. She saw him bob and weave through bad guys with ease. He’s been very good. It’s been about a week and a half since he’s visited. 

“I need your contact.” 

“My contact?” Nadia wondered if he could be any vaguer. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

Batman pulled out a vial with a few pills in it. Well, that’s not a good sign. 

Nadia frowned, “Jesus.” 

“You said you knew a researcher that could be helpful. It’s not something urgent at the moment. If you could tell me what is in this and where it originates on a map.”

Nadia grimaced, taking the vial from the man. “I know someone who can help but elaborate a bit first before you hand a girl drugs.” 

“It’s called Fever. From what I’ve learned, it was being tested to groupies for a few months now but it’s become more mainstream than it’s ever had. I’m tracking a lead to the dealer, I’m thinking it’s not just a few dealers here or there but a conglomerate that’s controlling the market. I’m trying to bust them.” 

“I mean, don't new drugs come up all of the time?” Nadia studied the pretty blue and pink of the capsule of the drug. “What’s so special about these?”

“It causes increased stamina, energy, and lack of inhibition. A few days ago, I ran into a couple of twelve-year-olds setting someone on fire while being high off it.” 

“And you said this wasn’t urgent,” Nadia frowned. Children committing arson in a drug-induced haze seemed pretty urgent to the doctor. She couldn’t imagine the amount of damage the drug could do in more people’s hands. 

This time, Batman was frowning. “It’s technically not, I still have to deal with the Charity Robbers, it’s hard to manage a drug bust when I’m not even sure when another robbery will take place.”

“Woah,” Nadia blinked. “I thought that was handled. The news and law enforcement said that everyone involved is in jail. Plus, they haven’t robbed any charities in a week which is a pretty long grace period for them. ” 

Batman shook his head, “It’s much bigger than the cops want to make it out to be. It’s an entire organization. They’ve been moving through cities doing the same thing for a few months every year. No one has connected it.” 

“Until you,” Nadia watched the man carefully, very impressed with his conclusion. “That’s insane that you figured it out. Not to mention, it’s also a tad odd that you’re even letting me into your crime-fighting endeavors. Are you sure about telling me all of this?” 

Batman studied Nadia’s face for a few pauses. “You’re agreeing to help me out on this, the least I can do is let you in on what’s happening. You also said you forget what I do sometimes. This serves as a reminder.” 

Nadia winced. “I just wanna say sorry about how our last conversation ended.”

He raised an eyebrow in response. She didn’t know what he was thinking but she pretended that it was a signal for her to continue.

“I don’t know if you would even care or not but I was being insensitive. You knew that, I came to realize that. I saw first hand how injured you got through your work and I still wasn’t registering what you did or how much work you were doing for the people around you. Even though I was being an idiot, it doesn’t make what you do any less real.” 

Nadia looked around the kitchen, trying to choose her words wisely as Batman’s stare bore holes into her head. “I’ve been eating into the anti-Batman wave and I had no right to. Especially considering the good that you do every night. One of my patients was the woman who got shot in the last robbery. She said that if she could meet you again, she’d thank you. While I was talking to her, I realized that you don’t get the credit that you deserve. You save lives all the time and you probably rarely hear a thank you for it.”

Nadia sighed, beating herself up for even bringing this up, to begin with. “What I’m trying to say is that on behalf of that woman, her name’s Jane, and for other people what you’ve directly and indirectly helped, thank you. Thank you for what you do, Batman,” She met his eye. “You don’t ask for anything in return and yet, you still do what you do, even at the risk of your health. It’s admirable.” 

Nadia took a deep breath afterward. Not going to lie, she felt uncomfortable at laying everything out on the table. Nadia wasn’t one to directly state what she was feeling. She would much rather bottle everything up, avoid confrontation, and then die.

She’s been talking for so long, she didn’t even know if Batman would say anything. He asked her for help about drugs and she went on a rant. He probably thought that she was wasting his time. Would Batman care about something like a thank you? Nadia wasn’t sure but she hoped that he would at least respond. The silence was killing her. 

Finally, Batman nodded, “Thank you. It does feel good to be appreciated every once in a while. It’s not why I do it though.” 

Nadia beamed. The response was positive. Success! She shook her head, smiling at the vigilante, “I can’t imagine you do.” 

Nadia and Batman just stared at each other for a few moments. Nadia, smiling, whereas Batman was blank-faced. Nadia thought that he would say something more but he didn’t. They were left staring at each other.

Safe to say, it was getting awkward and Batman didn’t make a move to do anything about it. 

“So…” Nadia started, planning on changing the subject. “Did you only need me to help with the drug? How are you physically? Do you need a checkup?”

Batman took a moment before he responded. He must’ve been thinking about something during that awkward moment between them. What could have gotten Batman distracted? 

“I’m fine,” Batman got up from the table. “Let me know when you get results back for the drugs.” 

“Gotcha,” Nadia obnoxiously saluted the man. He simply raised an eyebrow and left quietly. 

Nadia thought that went well. Now, to text Sally. Nadia wasn’t sure how she was going to spin this favor but she prayed Sally would believe whatever half baked excuse Nadia comes up with. Or she could text Cisco. Wait, yeah, Cisco would be better. 

Nadia grabbed her phone and got to it.

—🝰—

After Sally’s reaction to hearing about the first Batman encounter, Nadia decided that she would pretend, for Sally’s sake, that it wasn’t something that happened other than the one time. 

What happened wasn’t so accurate to Nadia’s condensed story she told Sally. Obviously.

Batman was quite literally her most visited guest. Nadia didn’t invite people over to her apartment though so it wasn’t saying much. Her previous most visited guest was Sally, herself, and she only visited twice a month, max. In the week after Sally visited Nadia, Batman has been over for random injuries about three times already. 

“Do you want to join us?” Allison asked Nadia. 

It was about eleven p.m. and their shift was almost over. Allison has been asking a few people if they wanted to join her for food after work. Nadia can only assume that Harry was going because of his at-home issue. She wasn’t so sure about Tanya since she was older, had a family, and it was late.

“Sure,” Nadia agreed. She had nothing planned, like every other day. “I have nothing going on.” 

At the end of their shift, Allison and Nadia headed to the locker rooms to get ready to leave. They were soon joined by Harry who was coming along. Then, Tanya, who was simply heading home. As the four of them started to walk out of the locker room Nadia’s phone chimed. 

She logged in and saw the message. 

**_BOATMAN_ **

_ I’m heading over now.  _

Nadia groaned. The man usually had great timing, what happened?

“Guys I’m so sorry but I can’t make it,” Nadia announced to the three.

Harry peered over her shoulder and read the message. “Who’s Boatman?”

Nadia scrambled away and hid her phone against her chest away from Harry’s sight. Eyes wide, she said, “Well, first of all, don’t snoop. Second, it’s this guy I met that got into boats for some reason. It’s an inside joke.” 

“And you’re ditching us for him?” Harry’s head tilted. 

“I wouldn’t say ditch. He makes… an interesting case for boats,” Nadia nodded. The other three stared at her like she had a second head. Nadia was panicking. Sweating, even. 

She needn’t lose her cool. 

“So, you’re telling us Boatman, who makes an interesting case for boats, is going to your house and you’re ditching us for him, your coworkers? You, the self-proclaimed person without life, has something going on in your life at eleven p.m. today?”

When did Harry become an investigator?   
  


“He needs my expertise on some anatomy stuff,” Nadia smiles, trying to not look them in the eye. Or at least not Tanya, Tanya always knows. She has the instinct of a mother, Nadia knew how powerful that was. “He’s into fishing, too. I thought I could help him with some of his questions.”

“He thought to ask a doctor, not a veterinarian, questions about fish and you agreed?” Harry asked slowly like he was spelling something out for Nadia. 

Nadia looked down at her feet, knowing that this wasn’t going well but she made her bed and she was going to sleep it in. If they were going to catch her in such an obvious lie she was going to die defending it. 

Nadia looked back up to Harry and straight to his face, she told him, “Yes.”

Nadia needed to start thinking out her alibis better. This can only be described as disastrous. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nadia and Batman are on good terms after a little bit of tension :) Now we deal with Nadia's horrendous lying skills. 
> 
> I would love to hear what you guys thought of the chapter!
> 
> Thank you so much for supporting the story and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)


	5. The Case of Batman and Boundaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot.
> 
> Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.
> 
> [set pre-young justice but will eventually catch up to yj plotlines]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)

Nadia felt that Harry, Tanya, and Allison knew that she knew that they knew that she was lying. She didn’t have the brain capacity when she just came off an eight-hour shift to come up with a different lie, so she didn’t try. Not that it was going to be any better than the first. 

The three took a few moments just to stare at her in a way that made her feel like crawling into a hole and dying. This wasn’t looking hot. She didn’t know how she was going to get away with this plus Batman was on his way to her apartment. Too many things were happening at once and it was making her head spin.

“You know, what?” Harry finally speaks up after a long silence. A really long silence. “It’s your life and your business. Just saying, if you wanted to keep your booty call on the low, you didn’t have to lie to us about it. Have fun!” 

Nadia’s widened eyes accompanied by her jaw falling to the ground. 

That was what their conclusion was!? That Nadia was sleeping with whoever Boatman was supposed to be? Nadia replayed how her conversation with Harry went. Nadia was too focused on simply trying to get them to believe that the Boatman even existed, she didn’t catch on to Harry’s implying tone whenever he questioned her. 

He totally thought she was boning Boatman.

The trio all bid her a good night and went their separate ways, leaving Nadia in their nonexistent dust.

Well to be fair, Harry thinking Nadia was seeing someone was convenient. Now, it was a good alibi if she ever had to leave quickly. It was a much better lie than Nadia had thought of. To be fair, she didn’t suspect much thinking was involved on her part. 

However, her lie worked.

So, in that case, that was a complete and absolute win in Nadia’s eyes!

Nadia turned and rushed down into the garage of the hospital to drive home. 

When Nadia entered her apartment, she was greeted by the man of the hour: Boatman. What had originally just been a vigilante asking her for medical help turned into a secret lover that Nadia was trying to hide from her coworkers for unbeknownst reasons. Amazing. Nadia’s life just keeps on getting weirder. 

Nadia shook her head trying to focus on the problem at hand now. She greeted the Dark Knight who was sitting at her dining table. “Good Evening.” 

“Isn’t it technically ‘good morning’? It’s two in the morning.” 

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t peg you to be one for technicalities, Batsy,” Nadia said, reaching the cupboard where she now moved her medical supplies to. Nadia also restocked on supplies, which made her happy. She grumbled as she did so a week ago because if she had just revealed her powers then she wouldn’t be wasting her money like this. However, seeing as she doesn’t trust people to know her powers and act responsibly towards her, she simply grumbled a tad quieter to herself. 

“So, what’s the verdict, boss?” Nadia said as a way of asking him what he thought the medical problem was. 

“Second to third-degree burns, Doc.” 

Nadia's face fell. She gasped turning around to the man. “What!?”

He held up his arms and they were both ruined. 

“Oh my God! What the hell is your pain tolerance?” Nadia exclaimed. Nadia couldn’t believe he didn’t make a sound with that type of pain coursing through his nervous system the entire time. She placed the kit on the table and opened it up. She used the scissors to cut some of the sleeve’s cloth so that she could expose the wound. 

Nadia winced looking at the damage. It was difficult because some of his armor and clothes were melted into his skin.

“I took the ibuprofen.” He told her. 

“Did you take enough?” She asked. 

“A lot. I took a lot.” 

“Well, that explains the pain tolerance,” Nadia nodded and got to work as Batman looked away from her. She wished she could do the same, Nadia hated burns. The smell of cooking human flesh was disgusting. It was truly one of the worst perversions someone could experience to their nose. Batman must have come to her apartment pretty recently considering that she couldn’t even smell it coming in. 

Nadia made work to remove any of the melted pieces as painlessly as possible but she knew that it wouldn’t feel that way regardless. She used some of her powers to help her cut around it without it hurting the man. Nadia was glad Batman was looking away. It made it easier for her to concentrate. 

After successfully removing any scraps attached to his skin, she went to work to remove any dead skin she could find. She warned him that she was disinfecting his skin so it would hurt and did just that. She used a cotton ball to dap alcohol on his wound. They did not need another infection fiasco. 

She applied antibacterial ointment and wrapped up the wound. She used a bit of her power to accelerate the healing process just for good measures.

“What were you doing that led you to get burns this bad?” Nadia asked the man, finishing up. “It wasn’t even this bad the first time that I helped you and you got blown up from an explosion.” 

Batman gave her a stare. ‘Are you asking me this right now?’ it said to her. To which she reciprocated the stare, expecting him to answer. 

“High-temperature gauntlets,” He admits. 

“Pardon?”

“High-temperature gauntlets,” Batman said but slower that time. It was, as if, Nadia didn’t understand his words and not that she was shocked by the mention of hot gauntlets. Which she was still mulling over because what? 

“There is truly a shtick for everything these days.” Nadia crossed her arms and slouched down on her chair. “How did you encounter these high-temperature gauntlets?”

Batman studied her for a pause or two. Whatever he decided in his head led him to answer her question, “It was a lead on the serial robberies. They were acquainted with people with resources and a market to sell to.” 

“The charity events?” Nadia asked. “I’m confused as to how gauntlets equate to attacks on charities.” 

He leaned back in his chair. “They’re working together for some other operation. I’m not certain about it. If I could bust the robbers I could put a stop to whatever else they’re planning.” 

Nadia nodded, “That’s insane. So was today your first day encountering these gauntlets?”

“If it wasn’t obvious from the burn marks,” Batman said. “You’ll hear it on the news tomorrow, I’m sure. I was able to alert the police to one of their bases. It was their main distribution site in Gotham.” 

“Woah,” Nadia's eyes lit up at what the man just told her. She zoned into a particular piece of information that he dropped. “Out of curiosity, do you keep up with the news about yourself?”

“Yes. In case the police ever drop anything that would compromise me or let me in one a lead,” Batman said. He sighed quietly but Batman didn't just make unnecessary noises like that. Her eyes drifted down to his arm, the ibuprofen must be wearing off. “It’s vital that I do.” 

Nadia nodded, “That makes sense.” 

Nadia couldn’t think of anything to talk about after that. So, she got up and started to clean and pack everything away.

She was strangely giddy that Batman was more sharing with the cases that he was working on. After the night where they talked things through, Nadia thought that he was more considerate of her. Even though she wasn’t a part of crime-fighting, he recognizes that she had been helping and deserved to know at least a little bit. Nadia didn’t expect that from the man. Even more, she didn’t realize how much it bothered her until she felt better about knowing what he was up to and who he was up against. 

Batman became a recurring constant in her life. The fact that he was someone that was getting hurt the most felt weird to Nadia. She didn’t like that he was out doing all of these things, got hurt frequently, and didn’t even go to an actual doctor for help. 

She thinks that maybe in that crime-fighting heart of his there was a place where he valued Nadia’s thoughts and opinions, even just a little. It wasn’t much but it was something. Nadia didn’t know if she’d call Batman a friend but she did want to be on good terms with the man. 

Nadia finished cleaning up in silence, as Batman took his time to get his bearings back. 

Nadia placed an unopened bottle of water in front of him. He looked at her quizzically. 

“You told me you were fighting an intensely heated… glove? I know you’re not also telling me that you're not dehydrated from it. It’ll make me feel more reassured that you’re taking care of your insides when I’m taking care of your outsides. Take the water bottle.” Nadia thought over her words and realized that that did sound very weirdly worded. She paused and tilted her head trying to figure out if she should address it. 

Before she could say anything more, Batman gives in and drinks the water making her smile. 

“Well, whenever you’re finished resting, you know the way out. I’m going to go get ready for bed. Being a doctor isn’t like being a vigilante but it’s still hard work. I’m exhausted. I would believe you would understand, considering what you just went through. I trust you know how to take care of burn wounds and I left ointment on the table to take home. Or even better, get your own. Medical equipment isn’t exactly cheap, you know? I’ll see you next time, Batsy.” Nadia grinned at the man. She walked away from him and towards her bedroom.

“Thank you.”

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Nadia called out, smiling to herself. Walking into her room, she locked the door and paused. 

Another wacky day of Nadia Kim and Batman. She says this but Nadia believes the only person who finds this wacky is her and not Batman. 

Nadia still can’t wrap her head around the fact that she was previously having a normal conversation with the man. 

Nadia was an avid book reader and her life has its insane moments in the past but she didn’t think she felt a part of some twisted story until now. Nadia was essentially a side character to Batman’s novel. She’s like the mage character that heals the knight. It’s very surreal. But also, very cool. Nadia couldn’t lie, she was very much having a good time helping the man out. 

She shook her head, she had to get used to it and stop thinking about the insanity of it all. 

This was becoming normal. 

As she was changing into nighttime clothes, she heard a beep followed by footsteps and then silence. Ah, the usual sound of Batman’s Batmobile coming to the alleyway off the side of her apartment. 

And just like that Batman was off doing his Batman thing under Gotham’s moon. 

—🝰—

Nadia and Harry were finished with their shift this week. Surprisingly, it was not during ungodly hours. They signed up for the regular nine to five and were out the door by half-past five. Harry suggested that they should get dinner, to which Nadia agreed. Despite the harmless offer, Nadia knew that if Harry had made up with his girlfriend, he would not be offering to eat dinner with someone who wasn’t her. Safe to say, this was very unusual. 

Nadia’s only knowledge was that Harry was trying to avoid going home unless he needed to. She thought that it had gone on for too long and she needed to at least ask him about it. God knows, Harry was stubborn and would not talk about his issues unprovoked.

The two of them walked over to the bar that they and the other workers are the hospitals frequented.

Getting settled, with their orders in place, Nadia said, “So, what’s your deal with Tessa? Why are you guys still weird?”

Harry’s eyes widened. Yeah, Harry, it’s happening right now. Nadia was over the brooding attitudes and the out of character actions. 

“Nothing,” Harry tried to lie to her face. Nadia knows that she wasn’t the most honest person nor was she the best liar. But he wasn’t fooling anyone. Unless he explicitly told her that he didn’t want to talk about it, she was going to keep pushing. This was affecting his living situation, it’s serious.

“I’m not buying it, dude,” Nadia shook her head. “You’ve been acting upset about her for weeks and I didn’t want to ask too much about it because if you ever get weird you guys make up at the end of the day. It’s been a good few weeks since you took night time shifts and you barely took a regular shift this week. On top of that, instead of going home to your lovely girlfriend, you’re eating dinner with me. You’re avoiding her because of something. So, quite the bullshit, and spill.” 

Harry frowned and looked away. Nadia couldn’t understand why he was being so difficult about whatever the problem was. Harry and Tessa have been together for about three years. They've never had a falling out this bad before. 

Harry sighed, rubbing his face. He looked back at her and Nadia didn’t think he’s ever looked this tired before. “Can I get some alcohol in me before I talk about it?”

“Of course,” Nadia said, nodding. Nadia thanks that she may have sorely underestimated exactly how bad it’s gotten. It was so bad that Harry needed to drink to talk about it? That’s how much he wanted to avoid the conversation? This was probably going to be bad. 

Nadia sighed. Don’t be cheating, Nadia prayed. She could deal with anything but having a friend being cheated on is not something she was prepared for. Like at all. 

The two received their drinks and thanked the waiter. After what Nadia could only describe as gulps from Harry’s beer, he said, “Tessa thinks we should break up.”

Nadia almost chokes on her drink. “What!?”

“She says that there hasn’t been the spark and it’s not exciting anymore, whatever that means. She says it was better when we first started and she still cares about me but it’s not what she wanted in life. I don’t know.” Nadia has truly never thought she’s seen her friend look so defeated for as long as she’s known him. This man does not know the word defeat. At least that’s what Nadia thought. “I don’t think she’s telling me the full story. I might be suffocating her or something, I wouldn’t even know.” 

“You guys live together, isn’t that a problem?” 

Harry gave her a tired look, “You don’t have to remind me about that.” 

“I’m so sorry, Harry. This must have been hard going through alone, ” Nadia told him. She couldn’t imagine what he was going through. She’s never been in a long-term relationship before, let alone live with a partner. “You guys haven’t spoken since she told you?”

“I tried to talk to her but I think she made up her mind. She’s not even compromising. She says that she still cares but it’s like she’s throwing me away. Like the past three years means nothing to her.”

Nadia nodded and took a sip of her drink. This was not something she knew how to counsel. Arguably, a partner who just breaks up with you out of the blue is worse than cheating. At least with cheating, you know who was in the wrong. This was just completely unexpected. 

Nadia wished Tanya was with them, she always knew how to cheer someone up or help them through a crisis. 

“That’s so weird, she’s essentially given up on the relationship. I didn’t think she’d be the type to,” Nadia comments.

Harry shook his head, “I have no idea. I can’t think of anything that I did that could make her upset. I get into my work a lot but it’s not something that she didn’t know about. We both do and we respect that about each other. This isn’t new. I don’t know what could be the problem.” 

Nadia wished she could do something more for the man. It wasn’t even something that talking through alone would fix. He never said he wanted her help to figure things out so she decided that being a lending ear would suffice. She’ll leave the problem-solving to Tanya. It’ll go much better with the woman.

“While you're figuring things out with her, I want you to remember that you have people on your side. I’m here, I’m sure Tanya would love to help you out as well. I know you have other close friends, too. Don’t go through this whole thing alone.” 

Harry nodded, “I know.” He took another sip from his beer. “Thanks for listening.”

“Hey, what are friends for.” Nadia shrugs. “If you need help or anything let me know. I don't know if I can be the most objective person for help but we can get Tanya in on it to talk it through. She’s the one married, I feel like her advice may hold more weight. I would probably give shit relationship solutions.” 

Harry laughed and nodded, “I could see that happening. Maybe I’ll let her know what’s going on next time we go out. She’s been giving me the same weird looks you have when I say I’m not going home early.” 

“I don’t give you weird looks.” Nadia frowned, not understanding what he was talking about. 

Harry looked at her like she wasn’t fooling anyone. “Nadia, your face gives you away.” 

“I didn’t mean to give you weird looks. I’m sorry.” Nadia told him begrudgingly. She didn’t know what he was talking about. However, if she was being rude, she was in the wrong. “I didn’t even know I was that animated.” 

“You’re forgiven, of course. And it’s not that you’re animated, it's that what you’re thinking shows on your face. You’re just obvious.” 

The food came out soon after that and the two started to devour their food. The conversation distracted them from thinking about how hungry they were actually. 

“Oh yeah,” Harry spoke up after a few bites of his pasta. “You’re going to the gala right?” 

Nadia groaned at the mention of the event, “Don’t remind me.” 

“No,” Harry laughed. “I’m asking if you’re going to bring a date. Boatman, maybe?”

“Boatman?” Nadia asked, confused. 

“Yeah, the guy in your contact that you ditched us for that one time. Your booty call.”

Nadia wanted to deny the existence of this Batman as someone she was seeing so bad but she needed this excuse. Nadia sighed, “We’re not serious or anything. I wouldn't bring as a date to anything let alone a work function.” 

Harry raised an eyebrow at the doctor, “I don’t know… If it’s a guy that’s managed to stop being a workaholic, he might be the one for all I know.” 

Nadia just laughs off Harry’s assessment. “Let’s change the subject and pretend this never happened.” Nadia's smile was far more strained and way less ‘chill’ than she’d like but she thinks that the message came across. 

“Fine,” Harry relented. “So no date?” 

“Why? So said the date could see me stroking rich white guys’ ego for money?” Nadia shakes her head. “No thank you.”

Harry grimaced, “Gross.” 

“Trust me, I know.” Nadia paused then grinned. “Is this your way to try to weasel yourself into the gala? You want to be my date?”

Harry shrugs, “If you’re offering. As we've already discussed, my living situation isn’t ideal.”

Nadia laughed, “Unfortunately, I’m not offering. It was only fun the first year I was here because of my old mentor. It’s not the same anymore. Seriously, not worth it. You know how much of an ass Coleman is.”

“I could make it easier,” Harry winked at Nadia. “And I could get the sugar mommy donations.”

Nadia rolled her eyes, smiling at the man. “Maybe next year, Harry, I don’t think I’m mentally prepared to include someone else in the fold of the gala. It’s brutal.”

Harry shrugs, “Your loss.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Nadia smiles.

Speaking of which, Nadia needed to let Batman know about that night. She wouldn’t be able to help him out if he needed it. The next time she saw him, she would let him know. 

—🝰—

Nadia debated if she should start charging Batmen for rent by the number of times he visited her. Thankfully, he does give her a heads up when he swings by but by God, this man was getting injured so often. 

It got so bad that during one of his visits, Nadia had to ask, “How is it that your injuries are this bad consistently? I swear nowhere did I ever hear about how the bad guy beat you up, but here you are, another flesh wound.”

“They’re usually in prison with a bruised ego, I don’t think they like talking about how they nicked me with a knife when they’re in prison.” 

Nadia sighed at the man. “You went a whole month without visiting me, I’m assuming your injuries weren’t that bad. I feel like now that you know that you have a personal doctor on call, you’re getting careless.”

Batman whipped his head to glare at Nadia. Nadia’s eyes widened. 

“Or not...” She looked back at the cut. “But it does beg the question of how you managed without a medic all this time to help with things like stitching your back, back together.”

Oh yeah, Batman’s back was on full display. He took off his cap and Nadia was helping him disinfect and stick up a cut that was way deeper than a simple nick, like how he was talking about. It was considerably wide and deep. If a canyon was a paper cut, this would be the Grand Canyon of wounds. 

Batman, as Nadia soon realized, was pure muscle. She looks at the layers of the muscle that showed on the wound. Not to mention, the fact that his entire back was defined muscles. She had to admit, she’s impressed by the man’s dedication to the cause and to bulk up. If there were not a slash on his back, Nadia might have commented on how nice it was to look at. 

However, with pure muscle comes nerve damage if the cut is too much. And the cut may have been. 

Nadia didn’t know if it was okay for her to cut open more cloth at first from his shirt but he seemed fine with it. After exposing the wound, she was off to work. 

Since it seems like Batman wasn’t keen on continuing the conversation. They fell into a silence, where the only sound Nadia could hear was the occasional hiss coming from her patient. 

This was something that she was used to at this point. They’ve become more comfortable with each other ever since Nadia apologized. It seems like appreciation will get you places. However, she didn’t want to abuse Batman letting her in on his cases, so she doesn’t ask unless she’s talking about something that she’s heard on the news.

Ever since his infection injury, there haven’t been any weird bacteria that Batman has caught through his crime-fighting. Nothing potentially threatening to the general populous in terms of a new strain of something. Nadia just assumes that these other injuries are the basic ones and the usual ones that he gets. 

With that train of thought, Nadia realizes that she has become quite used to his injuries which can’t be good. Nadia would be beside herself that she let one of her patients get into trouble this often. This was Batman we’re talking about, though. His job quite literally makes him seek out trouble.

He’ll have to be the exception.

Nadia wiped the newly stitched up wound with rubbing alcohol one last time. She applied ointment and covered the wound with gauze. She made sure to give a little accelerated healing when she was putting on the ointment for him to make sure that he would be healed a little sooner than later. 

She also made work to lazily stitch back together with his shirt. Looking at the stitching, made Nadia wince. Nadia thought that it would be enough for him to return to wherever his base of operations is without question. 

“You’re all done.” Nadia lightly patted his shoulder. 

“Thank you,” he said. Batman got up and put on his cape. 

“Also, I won’t be able to help you on the 16th.”

He gave her a quizzical look, of course, he wasn’t going to ask. Nadia decides to answer anyway, “I have this hospital gala thing that we do every year. It’s kind of lame but it’s a good networking opportunity. I’m most likely going to be drinking to get through the night and I refuse to treat you when I’m under the influence. So, be careful on that day specifically.”

Nadia knew she probably shouldn’t but she couldn’t help herself. “That’s related to what I was saying earlier,” she started. “Seriously, be careful. As much as it is a pleasure to treat you, I’d probably feel better if I don’t see you as often.”

Batman just stared at her. Nadia learns that he does that when she would breach touchy subjects. He’s calculating. She could practically feel his brain go thousands of miles an hour. 

“It would make me feel better if I knew that you weren't injured and back at whatever little bat cave you crawled out from than here with me fixing you up all the time,” Nadia clarified. 

“You do your job well,” he told her. 

Nadia rolls her eyes. “Well, yeah. I have a Ph.D. for a reason.” 

“I do have a medic, but they’re no doctor. Doesn’t keep up with current trends as much. Accidents happen. It’s better if you could help me.” 

Honestly, she was surprised that he could tell that she shifts the way she helps patients based on updated research. He is dubbed as a great detective for a reason. 

On the other hand, she also knows that her impeccable treatments are due to powers and not just because she’s adaptable. You can be a great detective and still miss sometimes. 

Despite those points, Nadia saw and agreed with what he was getting at. Despite this medic’s best intentions if they weren’t reading up on medical advances. It would be hard to keep up with things that happen to Batman during his crusades around the city.

Traditional treatments are good and reliable but it’s not going to last for long if Batman was going up against viral bacteria.

“I’m not telling you to make due somewhere else, Batsy. I’m saying be more careful to not get nicked like today or get a concussion-like the other day. To sum it up, take care of yourself better when you’re out there. Some situations can’t be helped but I’m not exactly happy with seeing you bruised up all the time.” 

Batman raised an eyebrow. 

Nadia waited for some type of backlash from him, arguing about the case. Usually, whenever she tries to coax people into being more careful there is always an argument but none came. 

Instead, “Got it.” 

Nadia couldn’t believe her ears. “Okay,” Nadia nodded, taken back a bit by him simply agreeing. 

“I’ll try my best.”

Nadia nodded, studying the man’s face for a moment. She appreciated that he didn’t take offense to her words. She noticed that something was off. 

Nadia reached her hand up to his face. Batman was sporting an oddly angled jaw that was discoloring more than when she first saw him. 

Nadia’s hands moving up to his jaw to feel it out. Someone was able to get a hit in on him which did not seem good. She felt around his jaw and it felt dislocated. So zoned into the man’s injury, she didn’t register the way his hand cupped her elbow, keeping her at a distance. 

She didn’t know who he went against but she was hoping that he won the fight and the other person looked worse. 

“Your jaw is busted,” she informed. Nadia could only assume that the man knew about it already.

“It’s fine.”

Nadia frowns looking up at his eyes. “You’re gonna make me upset. I know that it hurts, I’ve had a couple of dozen patients come with it. It’s not pretty. Let me help, that’s what I’m here for” 

He stared down at her for a little bit and let go of her hand, allowing her to do her work. Nadia couldn’t quite get the right angle that would allow her to safely put his jaw back in place due to his cowl. 

“Your mask thing is in the way.” Nadia knew that what she was going to suggest was not gonna be something Batman would be happy about but she had to try. “Is it okay if we do something to take it off for a bit so I can safely handle the situation?”

In an instant, Batman had her raised hand in a death grip and she was leaning into his face more than before. She couldn't see his eyes but the glare was evident. She was frozen in place, not knowing what would happen next. Nadia wouldn’t be surprised if someone told her for those few minutes that her heart had stopped. She was convinced all of her systems stopped for those moments.

She was reminded that the man in front of her wasn’t someone to cross. 

“No.” His voice had an edge to it when he told her. It was the same stern tone that he used when he first woke up in her apartment.

Nadia was a coward but she was still a doctor. So she said, “You can cover your eyes or your nose with a cloth if that's what you’re worried about but your cowl isn’t exactly giving me the full range to place back your jew. It’s gonna hurt. Or pull up your mask a bit.”

“Then let it hurt,” he growled. 

Nadia swallowed her surge of panic and took a breath. Nadia worked in the ER so she was used to patients that came in and lashed out. She’s been in more life-threatening situations than arguing with Batman.

An angry vigilante was cake. It was cake. 

She wasn’t sure if she was able to convince herself or not. 

“Okay,” she said slowly trying to calm him down. “I got it. The mask stays on. I’ll have to apologize in advance, though. I’m going to attempt to set back your jaw. Do you want pain meds?”

“No,” he grunted. He finally let go of her hands. She took another deep breath. One step at a time. Setting jaw first, then freaking out about Batman being aggressive and scary. 

“Okay.”

Nadia made quick work to place back his jaw and though Batman did show signs that the process hurt him he didn’t say anything. Nadia didn’t say anything either. She made sure that she reduced the swelling on his jaw in the process. She couldn’t do anything about the pain, though. 

Afterward, Nadia started packing up her first aid kit. Batman got the memo and started to head to the window to leave. 

Although she was cleaning up the area, she was keeping her eyes on him. It was a force of habit when she dealt with aggressive patients. She didn’t think that he would hurt her or anything but she didn’t know exactly what he would do if she crossed any lines. Nadia thought that maybe she had been too nonchalant with the Dark Knight for the past few weeks. 

He paused at the window. 

“Sorry.” 

Then, he was gone. 

The deep breaths she tried to fool herself with weren’t doing anything to her nerves. After he disappeared into the night, she was calm again. No longer on alert but she felt exhausted from the interaction. 

She understood that he wouldn’t want to reveal his identity but she wasn’t asking him to reveal his identity and he suddenly got hostile. Nadia thought that the alternatives were even understandable.

Maybe she was just more upset about the fact that she thought that Batman had started to trust her. She’d wished he would trust her enough to believe her when she said she wasn't interested in who he really was but she was just fooling herself. 

Not like she cared. She shouldn’t care about things like that. Nadia decided to swallow her pride and not take it to heart. When he comes back she’ll act as if nothing had happened. 

Nadia told herself that she was fine with it. 

It didn’t bother her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what I like to call the "Nadia getting lowkey attached to Batman and not even knowing how to handle it" challenge. 
> 
> Quick Update: I'm back in college! D: I'm letting you guys know that because there will most likely be a delay in updates in the near future. I'm in STEM and all of my classes are time-consuming. But never freight, I'm still really passionate about this story and seeing it through. So, rest assured that I will be working on it during as much free time as I can manage. :) I'll update you guys if anything ever changes!
> 
> Thank you so much for supporting the story and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)


	6. Catwoman is the New Batman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot.
> 
> Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.
> 
> [set pre-young justice but will eventually catch up to yj plotlines]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)

The Annual Gotham Hospital Fundraising Gala. A mouthful, Nadia knows. 

It was where all of the wealthy that have too much money in their pockets come around and are entertained by narcissistic doctors that, also, have too much money in their pockets. Pretentious business people meet pretentious doctors and they stroke each other off until they are both satisfied, or a check was written out.

If you couldn’t tell Nadia wasn’t a fan. 

It was a black-tie event that got doctors from the hospital to talk to businessmen about donating a generous amount of money. Nadia thinks that the hospital put ‘gala’ in the name so that it could attract Gotham socialites because for some reason they love galas. Nadia doesn’t question it further though because she had a specific role to play during the event.

Since she was one of the younger female doctors at the hospital, the hospital likes to show her off. She felt gross being there considering no one would let her get a word in, to begin with, but the hospital getting funding was in her best interest. So, there she was. Nadia was a show horse to put it respectfully. 

One of her superiors would introduce her to a bunch of CEOs in an attempt to put up an air that a new and fresh Asian woman in the medical field desperately needed help from the rich white man. Nadia would play into the white savior complex and then drink more alcohol to forget that she ever did that, to begin with.

Whoever her superior was with her at that moment would go off about the hospital a bit more and Nadia would stand around sipping her champagne until they finished their conversation. And the cycle repeats. 

This year was no exception. Nadia couldn’t count how many people she’s met so far but it was exhausting. 

Her superior in the hospital was a man named Hunter Coleman. He was, unfortunately, the person she had to spend this evening with.

He was every narcissistic god complex-ridden doctor she’s ever met in one. Dare she say he was the stereotypical gross doctor. To sum it up, she hated every interaction she was forced to have with the man outside of their professions. 

Not to mention the misogyny. She didn’t know what his deal was but it was like he made it his mission to fill in the silences of their conversation with snide comments on how he was impressed with her work… for a woman. Nadia made herself a promise that if he ever remarked on her ethnicity, she was going to castrate him. 

He wasn’t always her superior though. In the first year that she began working with the hospital, Nadia’s superior was Dr. William Fisher. He was a man well into his years but he was understanding, patient, and polite. Nadia had done her residency under him and so she was excited to start working with him. A year into her career, he had a stroke and decided that was a good time to retire. Nadia only spent the first year under him but it was significantly better than her next two under Dr. Coleman.

Her first year at this event was delightful. William Fisher didn’t hound on Nadia’s every move. She would roam around freely and mind her business. Then, if she chose, strike up conversations with people that she wanted to approach and they were insightful. She was able to enjoy the night and talk to other doctors and surgeons that she never got the chance to. 

Nadia didn’t know what she was missing until Dr. Hunter Coleman got a promotion. The next year was hell and she ended up wanting to very publicly risk her license to smash a bottle over Dr. Coleman’s head. 

He was demanding and wanted her to talk to as many businessmen as possible. At first, Nadai thought the man was joking. That soon changed to dread when she was being introduced to the fifth businessman of the night and she didn’t even get a single drop of alcohol in her yet. It was, to put it lightly, unbearable. 

This year wasn’t any different. Nadia knew it wasn’t going to be. 

Nadia was wearing a very simple velvet spaghetti strapped maxi dress. Its color resembled a rich red wine. Nadia thought that the dress was pretty and it was cheap for its good quality. Nadia didn’t have many dresses. To be honest, she only buys dresses when the Gala comes around. She didn’t have a reason to be wearing nice dresses in her day today. So she takes her time to buy something she could see herself wearing on other occasions if the situation presents itself. 

At this point into the event, Nadia wasn’t sure how many people she'd talked to yet but she eventually was able to excuse herself to the bathroom. 

The event was huge. Gotham General Hospital invited many prominent Gotham figures. There were politicians and businessmen at the event. It made for a hefty list. On that list, were also a lot of outstanding staff from the hospital. Nadia was lucky to be invited a year into being a doctor but she thinks that it was because Dr. Fisher was biased. Nadia didn’t complain but a little birdy told her that many other people did. 

Nadia had to weave her way through the huge ballroom that they were in to get to the bathroom. The Hospital worked with Royal Hotel every year to host the event. There were impressive columns in the room decorated with rusted gold accents all around the ballroom. It was an older luxury hotel and all the rooms emphasized this fact. Nadia has heard many stories about the hotel from older Gotham citizens. Let’s just say that there was a lot of history behind it. It’s been through some remodeling and rebranding. 

Nadia threw the doors of the bathroom open only to be greeted with a woman smoking.

Nadia stared at her for a moment, very confused by what she had walked in on. 

Nadia looked the woman up and down. She was gorgeous to sum it up. Her face looked soft but her pouty lips, green eyes, and arched eyebrows made her far more alluring than cute. The woman wore a flattering long sleeve black gown that fit into the silhouette of her body but despite being covered, she did not look like the modest type. Call it a hunch. The woman was stunning, if Nadia had seen her earlier she would have done a double-take. Nadia wondered why she didn’t see her in the ballroom. Surely, everyone would have been staring at her. 

The woman’s eyes slowly trailed over to Nadia. In a lazy tone after the two stared at each other, she asked, “Do you want one?” She held up her pack for emphasis.

There was an elegance in how she spoke that drew Nadia in. 

Nadia laughed at the absurdity of her offer. “No, thank you. This is a hospital event, why are you smoking in the bathroom?”

“Are you going to be stiff about it, dear?” Her eyes studied Nadia. 

Nadia sighed. She didn’t even want to go back outside at the moment. If she needed to put up with whatever this was, she was going to do it. “I’m going to put it on record that I asked you to stop but seeing as I am not on duty, you can do what you want. It’s not like doctors don’t smoke either.” 

Nadia walked up to the sink and started to check over her makeup. 

“You looked miserable out there,” the woman commented, taking a drag. Nadia glanced over at her and the woman’s eyes didn’t seem like they'd strayed from Nadia’s. 

“Have you been watching me?”  
  


The woman grinned, “Cat’s out of the bag.” 

“Well, if you were in my position you wouldn’t be jumping with joy.”

“It’s a party, dear,” the woman purred. “If I was in your position, I would take the opportunity to sneak off with a few more grands just for myself instead of being used by the big guys on top.” 

Should Nadia be concerned? That sounded like a concerning statement. 

“I wouldn’t know how to go about that plus it’s kind of my workplace.” Nadia looks down at her phone and checks her messages, trying to stall for time.

“It’s a matter of creativity,” Nadia’s eyes flitted back to the woman and through the mirror, Nadia could make out a hungry glint in her eyes. 

“Should I be happy that I didn’t bring my purse, then?” Nadia asked. 

“Oh no,” the woman smiled. “I only believe in inconveniencing the ultra-rich and wealthy.”

“You know, there’s been quite an array of charity robberies that’s been taking place in Gotham for the past month. You wouldn’t happen to be alluding to that would you?” Nadia laughed lightly and took an abrupt stop. “Please say no.”

The woman shakes her head, smiling. “You’re funny. What’s your name?”

Nadia turned to face the woman properly. “Dr. Nadia Kim.”

“Selina Kyle. Pleasure.” 

Nadia didn’t have faith that the name the mystery woman gave her was legitimate. Ignorance is bliss, though. So she didn’t comment, only nodding in acknowledgment. 

“If you’re here talking about scamming rich men out of their money. Which is admirable, by the way, don’t think I’m not with you on this one. I can only assume that you’re not a part of some big business cooperation,” Nadia commented but the question was obvious. How’d you get into this event?

“I’m like you,” Selina shrugs. “A side piece.” 

Nadia laughed. God, that’s what Nadia was, wasn’t she? She was Coleman’s side piece this afternoon. All that talk with Harry about not wanting a date and here she was. 

  
“Not going to lie, I hate that,” Nadia admitted.

“The faster you come to terms with the truth, the easier it’ll be to get over it.” 

Selina didn’t seem like a bad person. Nadia understood her a bit from what she just said. Selina Kyle has gotten used to being a pretty face and now she’d used her femininity to her advantage. Nadia liked the woman, she’s concluded. Nadia can respect that. 

“So, I’m the hospital’s side piece, begrudgingly,” Nadia adds. “Who had the pleasure of making you their side piece?”

“Bruce Wayne.”

Nadia hummed, trying to think about everything she knew about the man. It wasn’t much. “I don’t think I’ve met the man but I hear his pockets run deep.” 

Selina shrugged, grinning.

“I know we’ve been kind of dancing around the subject and you even avoided answering a question about it at one point but are you here to steal money?”

“Are you usually this bold about it?” Selina asked. Her face conveyed disappointment on Nadia’s part. “If I were here to steal something, you realize that I would have to take you out so that I didn’t leave any witnesses behind, right?” 

“Well, yes,” Nadia said carefully. “But I thought we had a good thing going.” 

Selina raised an eyebrow, “You’re either extremely brave or extremely dumb.”

Nadia grinned. “It’s my charm. I find myself in recklessly dumb situations all the time. I usually get out alive at the end, though. So, I take a chance at being brave every here and there.”

Selina shook her head and walked over to loop her arm around Nadia’s. “Come. I’ll introduce you to Gotham’s most wanted and eligible bachelor.”

Nadia walked out of the bathroom with the woman. Nadia turned her head to Selina as she led the two of them through the ballroom, “Did I just become your sidepiece?”

“You’re very easy, dear,” Selina laughed. 

Nadia nodded, “Well, that explains a lot. I guess when it’s a fellow woman, it’s not so bad. I’ll let it be.”

As they walked through the ballroom, Nadia noticed the stares. Selina was truly like a magnet for the male gaze, it was like they would die if they took their eyes off of her even once. Even if men looked away, they would still sneak glances at the woman. Nadia concluded that she used her beauty but this was impressive. Nadia had to give it to the woman, she was good at what she did. And what she did was merely existing. Brilliant.

“Bruce!” Selina called out delicately, losing whatever blunt edge to her voice she’s had with Nadia. “I’ve come back with a friend.” 

Nadia watched Selina smile at the man. The smile was too innocent looking to be on the face of Selina Kyle. She may be playing dumb with the man but the look seemed to communicate something that Nadia couldn’t pick up. 

Bruce turned, grinning. Nadia had to admit, the two made a formidable pair. 

The infamous Bruce Wayne of Gotham City. He was all the news ever wanted to talk about. He was a playboy party animal who wasn’t all that smart. He inherited his company from his father and has been living off the fruits of their labors. 

Bruce Wayne didn’t particularly have such a terrible reputation despite being in quite a few scandals with famous women. He’d known for doing a lot of charitable things for Gotham. In the exchange for caring about the community in Gotham, the news doesn’t ostracize him. To Nadia, it was a pretty good deal. She had to give kudos to his PR team. 

Looking at the man, Nadia couldn’t help but think it was a bit unfair. Bruce Wayne was so conventionally attractive, Nadia wondered if he was created in a lab. He has an old-fashion aura to him that made him look like he belonged in the ballroom of an old luxury hotel. Because of course, he did. However, there was the modern sort of James Bond elegance to his stature that made Nadia appreciate this side of socialite society. 

He saw Selina first but his gaze shifted over at Nadia and his eyes widened a fraction. 

Yeah, Nadia understood how disappointing it must have been to want to be around Selina and then Selina brings over a friend who is not Selina. Nadia sympathizes, she didn’t mean to be a cock block that was her bad. 

“She’s a doctor,” Selina explains. “She’s the doctor everyone’s been talking a storm about. She’s also a very fun conversationalist. Aren’t you?”

Bruce was looking back at Selina. Nadia wondered if she imagined a hardened, even annoyed look, that he gave the woman. However, as soon as she suspected anything, Bruce’s easy-go-lucky smile was back on his face like nothing was wrong. 

Again, Nadia mentally apologized for being a cock block.

“Well, I would hope so but to each their own… I guess. And I wasn’t aware I was that interesting nor were people talking a storm about me” Nadia told Selina before turning to Bruce Wayne and addressing him with a handshake. “I’m Dr. Nadia Kim.”

Bruce raised his hand, which she grasped to shake. Nadia may have squeezed a bit too hard but it was a habit she’s gotten when shaking hands with men. Never show them that you’re weaker than them. Ever. 

“Bruce Wayne,” he said. “And I wouldn’t say that. It’s a pleasure to meet someone so highly spoken up by the higher-ups at Gotham General. I was just talking to Dr. Coleman. He couldn’t stop raving about you.” 

Nadia tilted her head. Why did he seem so familiar? Nadia couldn’t put her finger on it but she felt like she may have spoken to the man before. It was probably him being a rich white man, though. She’s spoken to so many, they’re starting to blend.

“Oh, thank you! I think it’s all too much. Dr. Coleman can talk a lot,” Nadia gave him her copy and paste smile. 

She didn’t want to talk about Coleman when she was just trying to avoid even being around the man. It put a damper on the mood. Well, her mood, specifically.

“He told me something peculiar. You have one of the lowest mortality rates under your care in the nation and practically a one hundred percent recovery rate. That’s almost unheard of,” Bruce Wayne said with his charming smile on. “Tell me, Dr. Kim, what’s your secret?”

Nadia’s smile turned a bit awkward. What exactly was he alluding to? Bruce Wayne, the man who thinks with his downstairs head, could not be insinuating anything weird right? He couldn’t possibly be asking about something that could do with Nadia’s powers. She wished she didn’t have powers during times like these. It stressed her out beyond comparison. 

Okay, rewind, Nadia needed to take everything at face value. She needed to pretend she didn’t have powers because she doesn’t have powers. At least to everyone else. 

“A Ph.D., Mr. Wayne.” Nadia grinned up at the man. 

The man laughed, “I guess you’re right. That was a silly question wasn’t it?”

Nadia gave him a tight-lipped smile in response. It yelled, ‘Yes, it was an idiotic question, but you’re rich and donating so I have to be civil’.

Nadia was trying to be polite because Selina seemed nice and Nadia liked Selina but their conversation was weird. No one was that clueless, right? Before they could continue the conversation Nadia heard his voice. The godforsaken one, of course. 

“Nadia! I was looking everywhere for you!” Dr. Coleman grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. This caused Nadia and Cheryl’s arms to unlink and Nadia fell back a bit. In the corner of her eye, she saw both Selina and Bruce reaching a hand out to her to help. Luckily, she got her bearings back before they reached her. This bastard. “I see you’ve met Mr. Wayne…” He went on a ramble that Nadia didn’t pay attention to. He spotted some other rich guy and went to excuse the two of them but Selina interjected. 

“You’re good company, Dr. Kim,” Selina said, pulling the attention back to her with ease. “Here’s my business card. Call me if you’re ever in need of someone to chat with”

Nadia took the card with a small thank you. “It’s nice meeting you two.” 

Dr. Fisher whirled her over to the next rich guy.

Nadia tucked the card into her clutch as she was being introduced to yet another millionaire for the night. 

—🝰—

“It’s incredible to think that there are people as competent and young as you, Doctor. It’s mind-blowing to think of how far our generation has come.” 

Nadia smiled at Jeffrey Dawson, he was a younger entrepreneur in Gotham as he explained to Nadia. Nadia was having a decent time talking to the man. Nadia thought it was kind of one-sided but the man seemed genuine enough. 

“I do encourage more young people to genuinely enjoy the reason that they chose to become a doctor of course but many people just aren’t in it for the right reasons. I understand the financial gain of the job but I think it’s a shame that quite a few doctors end up not even enjoying their career. It’s a by-product of capitalism.”

Jeffrey hummed in acknowledgment and paused to process Nadia’s words. Or that’s what she thought. Nadia found herself noticing that there were moments when Jefreey would seem distracted, looking at something else in the distance or he wasn’t even present. Nadia tried to reason it to him being bored with her but whenever she tried to end the conversation, he would bring her back into it. 

Nadia waited for him to say something but this pause was way too long and he seemed fixated on something over her shoulder. Nadia turned around but didn’t see anything of significance. Nadia wasn’t one to up and judge someone but this was getting strange. She just thinks that the man was bored and maybe he was avoiding someone by talking to her. 

Nadia took another moment for him to say something but when he did not attempt, she decided she’s had enough of it. 

“You know, Mr. Dawson, it was charming talking to you, but I think I should be getting back to Dr. Coleman.”

He snapped out of whatever trance he was in. 

“Oh no, please-”

Nadia wasn’t about to let Jeffrey rope her into a one-sided conversation yet again. “I insist Mr. Dawson. I really should be heading-”

Nadia never finished her escape plan.

The sound of glass shattering rang through the ballroom pausing everyone’s conversations. Panic ensued when a scream echoed through the air and shots started to fire in the ballroom.

Nadia’s head whipped around to the sound but she wasn’t able to even see what was happening. Before she knew it, Nadia was being pulled back. 

She was about to question why she was grabbed until she felt a weight on the side of her temple followed by a click. 

Uh oh. That can't be good.

“Sorry to have to do this to you, Doctor.” Jeffrey Dawson told her holding her at gunpoint with an arm over her chest, keeping her in place. Nadia looked around the ballroom and people in bulletproof vests started to walk in through the doors, blocking off the entrances. 

“Mr. Dawson, please, you don’t have to be doing this,” Nadia tried to reason as she witnessed the other guest move away from the pair when they realized what was happening. This was not stacking up in her favor. The people around them ducked down then more shots were fired in the room. Soon, everyone was kneeling to duck for cover. 

Nadia flinched at a fired shot making her head pressed up against the barrel of the gun.

“I think, I kind of do.” 

Nadia took a deep breath, trying to calm down. This seriously can’t be happening.

Other people started to swarm around them. It seemed like more of those goons came through than she had thought. They formed a shield between Jeffrey and Nadia and the rest of the guests. Nadia notices their weapons and they look like the stuff people in the army would use. Nadia could only guess they had military-grade equipment. 

The night went from shitty to shittier very quickly. 

“Everyone get down and listen up!” Jeffrey announced and the guests followed his instructions. “It’s going to go down pretty simple, you’re going to wire transfer all the money that you contributed or she dies. Easy-peasy, isn’t it? Now, who can I speak to about money around this gig?”

No one spoke up. 

Jeffrey gave it a few more pauses until he moved the gun to the ground and fired. 

Nadia screamed. He moved his hand to cover her yelling, muffling her scream.

He shot her foot. For a moment all Nadia could feel was the heat from the sheer pain of the wound. Her knees buckled but she didn’t drop to the ground before Jeffrey was yanking her back to her feet. Nadia tried to stand on her other leg but her knees kept on failing her. 

Jeffrey moved her back so that she was upright again. “Volume, Doctor. Please, you’re at an event.”

Nadia bit her lip to distract from the pain. Her leg was shaking so badly, she didn’t know what to do. She could feel the tears swelling in her eyes. She let out a whimper as the pain God was punishing her for something, she was sure. She couldn’t always be in these types of situations and it is a coincidence, could it? 

“If you didn’t get the memo, I’m impatient!” Jeffrey announced, trying to find someone who would aid him. “I could always try her other foot if you insist on not being useful.”

“I can help!” A woman near the donation booth jumped up. “Just… let her go.”

“Cool, and sure,” Jeffrey tossed Nadia over to one of the men in gear. “Keep a gun to the doctor's head, just in case some measures need to be taken.” 

Nadia was pressed up against another one of the men. Nadia could barely stand, she had to lean on the arm of the man to be able to be upright at all.

Nadia hated the fact that she could heal herself but she couldn’t because her powers would be revealed. 

“Can someone at least help her first?” The woman looked over at Nadia nervously. “We’re in a building filled with doctors.”  
  


“Eh, too much work, what if I do end up killing her at the end? And the other lovely doctors in the room end up helping her for nothing?” Jeffrey asked the lady who was now behind a laptop. “It’s kind of a waste. Don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. If you want to help her, chop-chop.” 

The girl started to type furiously on the laptop. 

“Good.”

Nadia looked up for a second to try to and something caught her eye. 

At the window further up, a shadowed figure was perched outside. She looked down but then looked back up and it was gone. 

Could that be Batman? Nadia couldn’t imagine why. His response time couldn’t possibly that quick. Everything barely went downhill in the last five minutes. It made no sense. Despite all of the logic that Nadia came up with, she wished it was the caped man. Things would be so much easier if it was him. 

Nadia turned her head to give the man holding her a look, he was wearing a mask so she couldn’t make out his feature. He was decked out in a lot of gear. She didn’t know if she could take him even if she wanted to. There were so many other goons around and the people in the ballroom, she couldn’t do anything without compromising other people. 

As far as Nadia knew, she was the only one at risk of being hurt (again). Staying put may be her best option. 

She looked over at Jeffrey who looked bored for a man who just shot a woman in the foot. Nadia wonders if she could distract him for long so that Batman could get here. Nadia hates relying on the man but this was their only hope. 

“Pretty scummy to steal from a hospital don’t you think?” Nadia called over. 

What was she doing? Nadia put this in the category with all of the dumb things she’s done and not the brave things. 

“Scummy?” Jeffrey thought it over. “Not so much when the money is coming from millionaires that are trying to donate to call it a tax cut off. I think we’re doing some honest work around these parts.”

“What? Are you going to put the money back into your community? If you aren’t I don’t see the difference between you and the millionaires that you criticize.”

Jeffrey’s eyes twitched. “You know, you talk a lot for someone who just got shot.”

“You’re deflecting because you and your crew are just greedy and you’re masking it with some unjustifiable act of selfishness. At least the donated money would be going into a hospital which is for the people, usually, what’s your excuse?” 

“You know, I don’t think any hostage has a mouth like you, Doctor. It’s kind of hot,” Jeffrey smiles. 

Nadia’s foot was twitching from how much pain it was in. Her nerves aren’t able to handle that and this prick at once. She was so pissed off she was going to strangle this bastard. Nadia was so irrationally angry she didn't doubt that her face was red.

“Frankly, I hope you drop dead.” 

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow, “You were so well-mannered when we spoke. I thought we understood each other. I can’t believe my ears, Doctor.” He snapped his finger and like some evil cult leader, one of his goons came up and gave him a pair of gloves. Nadia didn’t know why they were important but they had metal on them. 

Nadia scoffed, “Yeah, put on those gloves, Dawson. I’m shaking in my heels right now.” 

“You know,” he said, putting them on. “We just got this new shipment of goodies. I’ve been meaning to try them out but I never got the chance to. I think right now could be the best opportunity.”

He did something to activate it and then the metal bits of the gloves glowed a bright orange. It was... Hot? 

Nadia’s eyes widened. She vaguely remembered Batman telling her about how the serial charity robberies were connected to… What were they called? High-temperature gauntlets?

Jeffrey started to walk over to her. 

The same gauntlet that melted Batman’s costume into his skin. Nadia can only guess what it would do to her skin. She gulped. 

Shit. Shit. Shit. 

Nadia decided that doubling down was stupid and she’ll never do it again. She didn’t care about her pride. Why the hell did he have heat gloves? God help her. 

“Listen,” Nadia laughed nervously. “We can talk about this.” 

“I think you’ve spoken enough, wouldn’t you agree?”

Jeffrey was in front of her. The heat of the gauntlet was coming out in waves, Nadia could feel her face start to sweat because of how hot it was. Jeffrey reached up to her face. He hadn’t touched her yet but her face already felt like it was melting and maybe it was. 

Nadia closed her eyes, he was so close. 

Wait. Jeffrey was close and she was being held up by another guy securely. Sally Jackson did not put Nadia in self-defense jiu-jitsu classes just for her face to burn off. She could work with this.

Nadia opened her eyes a tad and saw her opportunity. Swiftly pulling her legs up to her chest she put all of her weight and power to extend them, kicking into Jeffrey’s chest and knocking him away. 

In the inertia of the move, the man behind her fell back in a grunt. Nadia made sure to push his arm that held her by gunpoint up to the skies. Luckily, he didn’t fire. She fell along with him but she didn’t get any of the impacts. He let go of her during the fall and she scrambled away from the man trying to find her bearings. She watched the floor stain red as she moved her foot and paused. 

In Nadia’s hesitance, another goon grabbed her and pushed her down to the ground. He pinned her down, her wrists crossed each other, and she was helpless. She was so unlucky but more importantly, where was Batman?

Jeffrey got back up, wild in the eyes. “I’ve had enough of you. You’re dead.” 

He picked up a gun with his other hand and aimed it at Nadia’s head. 

Nadia’s eyes widened. He pulled back on the safety with a click. Nadia closed her eyes, waiting for it to come. 

But nothing came. 

“Evacuate,” a woman’s voice announced to the ballroom. Nadia could feel the weight of the man who had pinned her down disappear

Nadia opened her eyes and was face to face with Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne had knocked out the man on top of Nadia and was facing back to the doctor to see if she was alright.

Nadia didn’t have time to question what was happening before he asked her, “Are you okay?”

Bruce got Nadia back up, studying her face. No doubt, Nadia’s gone pale. 

“Besides the hole in my foot?” Nadia's question was met with an expectant stare and so she answered. “I’m okay, relatively speaking.”

“Okay,” He said, helping her get up. “Can you get to the exit on your own?”

Nadia glanced at where Jeffrey was and found him knocked out. What happened in five seconds that she had closed her eyes? 

Flocks of people were fleeing the ballroom. Bodies were pushing up against each other in a frenzy to leave the place. Everything was chaos. There were more of Jeffrey’s men passed out on the floor alongside the man. What was going on?

Nadia found only one of her answers when she looked over and saw that Catwoman was in a fight with three of Jeffrey’s goons. Catwoman was dressed as how she was described in the news articles, she had a leather tight bodysuit with cat ears and she donned goggles. She was jabbing and kicking the three and she was winning. 

Catwoman was helping the fundraiser? Wasn’t she a stealer? Her thing was being a cat burglar, wasn’t it? 

“Doctor?” Bruce called the woman’s attention back to himself. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m okay,” Nadia’s eyes were far away, she wasn’t present. Nadia didn’t think she was fooling anyone. 

“I don’t mean to invalidate your opinion but I’m not buying it.” Bruce Wayne hooked his arm underneath Nadia’s knees and picked her up. Nadia wasn’t prepared for the switch in transportation causing her to flail a bit before wrapping her arms around Bruce Wayne’s neck. He ran to the exit. On his way out, Nadia saw him passed out good near the door. She wondered if the guest just fought them off. More questions to the mystery, great. 

Nadia looked over his shoulder to Catwoman. She knocked down the last man in her way and looked over to the two. Catwoman caught Nadia’s eye and winked. Catwoman pulled out a crossbow, aimed for the window near the ceiling, and fired. She shot through the room and out into the night sky away from Nadia’s vision. 

Bruce Wayne navigated his way through the hotel that the event was being hosted at. As much as she hated to admit it, she was very much not okay. Her foot started to spasm again, the adrenaline was catching up to her and dying down. The pain had never been more intense. 

Nadia bit her lip and gave her foot a look. She winced. It was bloodied and Nadia swore she saw a glint where the bullet was. She tried to wiggle her toes but it hurt too much to get any movement. Nadia was hoping it was a good sign. 

“Stop trying to move your foot, it’s not going to do you any good. One of the doctors will know what to do.” Bruce Wayne told her. 

Nadia nodded, frowning. 

They finally were able to reach the lobby where the police were. Nadia thought that the stress was over until flashes started up. 

“Paparazzi,” Bruce Wayne grumbled and pushed Nadia’s head down into his chest. Nadia was grateful, the flashes were not helping her head. 

After that, everything was a blur. It all happened in slow motion. She was handed over to a gurney. The police started to swarm her. People were talking to her but she really couldn’t answer. Everything finally stopped when she saw black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so excited to introduce a Nadia and Bruce Wayne interaction as opposed to the usual Batman. Not only that, our favorite cat burglar made an appearance! I can't wait to develop a friendship between Selina and Nadia. On a sadder note, our dear Doctor is straight-up not having a good time...
> 
> I would love to hear what you guys thought of the chapter!
> 
> Thank you so much for supporting the story and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)


	7. A Worrisome Bat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot.
> 
> Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.
> 
> [set pre-young justice but will eventually catch up to yj plotlines]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)

Nadia woke up in a daze. She tried to open her eyes but they weren’t willing to cooperate. It was like she was suspended in jelly, everything was slowed down, and much harder to navigate. 

She had never felt like this before. Something was wrong.

Nadia tried to think about what was happening today. Why was she feeling so weird? She didn’t even get woken up by her alarm, this shouldn’t be as hard as it was.

Then, it hit her. 

Nadia was in the middle of some screwed up hostage case where she got shot and had to go to the hospital. 

She was so sluggish because she’s on anesthetics from surgery. 

Holy shit. 

Nadia had to wake up officially. She could already feel the drugs pulling her back down into slumber. Nadia desperately needed to know what was happening to her. She couldn’t waste time.

Nadia willed her powers to fix up her metabolism and make the drugs wear off. Slowly, Nadia started to feel lighter and lighter. The hospital bed that once felt like she was wrapped around clouds resembled the stiffness of an actual hospital bed. She was still tired but it wasn’t as bad as when she first woke up. She wasn't at risk of falling back into sleep. 

Alert, Nadia could hear the beep of the heart monitor. There was something to focus on.

After five minutes, Nadia was able to open her eyes without feeling like it was taking her life force to do so. She looked around the room. She was placed in a private room, not a shared one. Perks of being a doctor here, Nadia could only conclude. 

Nadia was only shot in the foot, she didn’t expect to be given a private room. To be fair, Nadia didn’t have any expectations for a situation like this because she could never guess she would experience a situation like this. 

Oh wait, this was bad. 

Nadia could simply heal her wound but since she was in here, she was going to be closely monitored. Nadia would have to heal normally or else the workers would ask questions as to how she was already up and ready from something like that. 

Nadia sighed to herself. She was seriously stuck between a rock and a hard place. Nadia wasn’t sure if she should call someone in just yet. It was late into the night, from the moon glaring down at her. She knew that she shouldn’t even be awake right now. They drugged her to the max, considering how long it took her to get rid of everything from her system. 

Nadia had never gotten sick because of her powers. If there was ever an issue she would fix it up in no time with little effort. She’s also never really needed to visit a hospital or a doctor ever for whatever reason. Honestly, Nadia didn’t even do check-ups. She knew it was irresponsibility but with abilities like hers, she didn’t need it. 

So with all of that in mind, patient etiquette wasn’t exactly something that Nadia was familiarized with.

The door was parted open. Someone must have been checking up on her pretty frequently, otherwise, the door would be closed. Nadia turned her head towards the window and the sky was dark. She didn’t know if it was still the same night as the Gala or even a week later.

Nadia looked to the side of her. The clock read ten thirty-two. Then, a holy grail, there was a remote control to the TV in her room. Nadia needed to figure out what happened after she passed out and if anyone’s got her, the news got her. Surely. 

She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. 

Immediately, the screen showed the news channel. Perfect. 

Nadia’s eyes darted around until she saw the date, it read the seventeenth. 

“Thank God, I’ve only been out for a day,” Nadia mumbled to herself. Nadia looked back down to the nightstand near her bed. Nadia’s clutch was on top in a clear bag. 

Nadia blinked. Oh yeah, she dropped her clutch in the chaos of everything, it was so minuscule she barely remembered it happening. The police must have picked it up and returned it to her. 

She opened it up and took out her phone. 

Nadia wondered if the hospital called Sally, if it’s been a day then she should have been here by now. Since Sally said that she monitored Gotham’s news there was no way Sally didn’t know about this. If Sally was here, Nadia suspected that Sally got kicked out. Nadia was stable, Sally knew that she wasn’t in any real danger, and visiting hours were over. Sally would have gone home. 

Nadia looked at the notifications and saw the twenty missed calls. Yup, she knew and no doubt she was in Gotham. 

Nadia texted Sally, letting her know that she just woke up and she was feeling fine. Healed up, was more appropriate but Sally got the message.

Nadia sighed, putting down her phone and redirecting her attention to the card that was sticking out of her clutch. Bruce Wayne’s side piece, Selina Kyle, who was also probably robbing him on the down-low had familiarized herself with Nadia. Nadia had to admit, she thought that the woman was a part of the charity robberies at first. She was relieved that Selina wasn’t. She didn’t even see her during the event, Nadia noted. Maybe she should ask if she was okay. 

Just then, the news anchor said the hospital’s name, causing Nadia to look up at the screen. 

“We’re still following the robbery hostage situation of the Annual Gotham General Hospital Fundraiser Gala. The Gotham police department had previously made a statement assuring the public that the serial robberies were to rest, they have since backtracked and are now reopening the investigation. We’ve learned that one of the doctors from General Hospital, Dr. Nadia Kim, was used as a hostage and was injured during the altercation. Reports tell us that she is now being treated at Gotham General and that she is in stable conditions. No one else was harmed during the robbery. There were many notable Gotham figures at the event, including but not limited to, Mayor Linseed, J. Pauline Spaghetti, Artemis Knab, and Bruce Wayne. We found out that when people were evacuating the building, Bruce Wayne aided Dr. Kim out of the chaos, as we can see here…”

Nadia’s jaw dropped. No way. 

On the screen showed a video of Nadia being carried out of the hotel by Bruce Wayne. He was holding her head down as he was rushing towards one of the paramedics to place her down on a gurney. It kind of made Nadia mad at how ruggedly handsome he looked in that video. It just wasn’t fair that he was this attractive hero and there she was with a bloody foot. Gross. 

Bruce Wayne was surprisingly intense when he was telling the paramedics what happened to Nadia. His eyebrow furrowed and a frown was on his face. Nadia didn’t think she had seen a serious side of the man in her life. Well, to be fair she’s never met the man but from photos of him, this was different. The video cut off when a police officer approached him. 

“Oh my God,” Nadia mumbled to herself. “I was made out to be the damsel in distress. I mean, I was but geez.”

The other news anchor made some notion about how Batman had to watch out because Bruce Wayne seemed to be the one to save the day that night. It made Nadia’s face twist. Bruce Wayne was no Batman, how dare they even say something like that. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. 

They ended the segment by saying that it was the only information that was public and the police department was still investigating. 

Nadia really couldn’t believe it. The story was about the robbery but somehow it ended up being about Bruce Wayne’s heroics even though he didn’t even save Nadia’s life or anything, she was okay. Sure, he knocked the guy off her but Nadia was sure she could have done that eventually. Maybe…

Nadia sighed, “The Devil works hard but Bruce Wayne’s PR team works harder.” 

“It is kind of annoying, isn’t it?” 

Nadia gasped, looking towards the shadow near her windows where the voice came from. Nadia could hear the monitor spike up as she recognized her unannounced guest.

“I’m hooked up to a heart monitor, are you insane?” Nadia whispers to Batman. Nadia used her powers to will down her heartbeat. “Way to be nonchalant.” 

Batman watched the door of Nadia’s room as he spoke softly. “Sorry.” 

Nadia shook her head, what was she going to do with this guy. She knows that his shtick was being sneaky but this is too much for her health. Sure, it was covered for already since she could heal and was a doctor but still. The guy needed to know how to announce his presence in a way better way. Nadia did not enjoy surprises in the slightest, much less a man’s voice being one of them. 

“I just woke,” Nadia spoke in a low tone to the man, not wanting to be caught talking to Batman by any passerby. “I didn’t expect you to visit.” 

He didn’t say anything for a few beats. “How are you?” He finally asks. 

“I’m fine,” Nadia told him. “One shouldn’t self-diagnose, but something tells me that I’m going to live through this.”

He nods. 

“I don’t know if you know Catwoman or not, you guys seem to be like frenemies, but let her know I’m thankful for her dropping in and taking down those guys,” Nadia told him. “She didn’t seem the type to but she did and she saved my butt back there. I appreciate it. Well, I appreciate her much more than Bruce Wayne. They didn’t even mention Catwoman in the news. Kind of biased, in my opinion” 

Batman narrowed his eyes at Nadia but said, “I’ll see if I can get your message to her.” 

Nadia smiled at the man. 

They stayed in silence for a while listening to the heart monitor to take up space. Nadia couldn’t understand what he could be here for. She was okay and he should be working on the case. The silence was only building her curiosity.

“Nadia,” He finally spoke. 

Her eyes widened a fraction, “Yes?” 

“I heard from multiple accounts that you were acting reckless,” Batman started. “That didn’t cause you to get shot but you were talking back to the man with the gun keeping you hostage.”

Nadia tilted her head, not understanding the problem. “Yeah? I mean he was robbing us and keeping me hostage. He was flirting with me after he shot me in the foot. What the hell was that? Not only was he rude, but his ideas and execution also didn’t even align. I mean what kind of logic was to steal from the rich but then steal from charities? It was totally in complete opposition from each other. Counterproductive, if I may use a long word. Seriously, pretentious di-” 

“Nadia,” Batman spoke in a voice hard as a rock, interrupting her heated rambling. If Nadia didn’t know any better, she’d think that he was angry with her.

“What?” she asked quietly. 

Batman sighed and that was scary because Batman doesn’t sigh. “You could have been killed. You almost were.”

Well, no, Nadia had super healing capabilities so that would never have happened. However, what Batman doesn’t know doesn’t hurt him.

“I would have been fine, and I am fine.” Nadia nodded at herself. “Honestly, if anything happened to me, I’m sure you can find another doctor to help with your injuries. I’m happy to see that you acknowledge my usefulness, though.” 

“That’s not why-” Batman caught himself, he has just raised his voice at Nadia. She frowned. He spoke again in a soft tone. “You shouldn’t even be putting yourself in unnecessary risks like that. There’s no reason. It’s irresponsible on your part. And as a doctor, you should know the importance of preventing injuries from happening in the first place.”

Oh. She was being completely scolded by the Dark Knight. Nadia had done her fair share of scolding the man in regards to his health. She was not prepared to receive the same treatment for her recklessness. This was shameful, for lack of a better word. 

Nadia nodded and admitted defeat, “Okay, fair. I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.” 

Nadia repented because Batman didn’t understand that she could repair herself in an instant if she were ever to get shot somewhere vital. Of course, the probability of Nadia finding herself in a situation like that again was slim anyway. The chances of someone going through near-death experiences has to be low. 

Plus the man sounded stressed out by her and she felt bad for doing that to him. No one deserves that. Especially with what Batman already has to deal with. 

Nadia didn’t think that replacing a doctor would be that difficult but to be fair she would be the only doctor that’d agree with his shenanigans. 

“Oh,” Nadia realized something. “Where were you? I was watching the news, as you saw, they didn’t mention you being at the scene.”

“Catwoman had it under control.” 

  
Nadia didn’t understand that part either. “Why did Catwoman even help? She’s a burglar, shouldn’t she be for the cause and not against it?”

“Not sure. She’s morally gray from what I’ve seen. Not always for or against anything for too long.” 

Nadia nodded but she felt like Batman was just spinning her in circles. She was still confused. Nadia had just woken up though, she could ask him again another time. It wasn’t that urgent. 

“So, are we still going to be terrorized by these robbers?” Nadia asked. “Did you finally crack the case?” 

“I was able to.” 

“Seriously?” Nadia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. 

“I cracked down their base of operations, their leader, and tipped the police. They should be found about now, tied up with all of their plans laid out in front of them.” 

“Woah, all this before ten? I’m shocked.” 

“I’m not an actual Bat, you know? I can work during the day.” 

“Could've fooled me. Well, I’m glad that this whole robbery thing is all over with. They ended it off with a whole shebang. Specifically to my foot.” Nadia frowned at where her foot is under the blanket. 

“Be glad that it wasn’t anywhere worse, not many people have your luck.” 

“I wouldn’t say I was the type to attract luck but I’m thankful you think that way.” 

“You practically dodged a bullet.”

“Tell that to my foot,” Nadia laughs. 

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Nadia’s heart rate spiked. Batman was still in the room. He can’t be caught in here with her, it’d raise too many questions. How the hell was she going to hide two hundred pounds of man? This was far too hectic and she just woke up. 

“Wait!” Nadia warned, trying to keep the nurse out. 

“What is it?” the nurse asked, coming in despite Nadia’s protest.

Nadia’s head whipped over to the Dark Knight but he was no longer there. She looked around the room. He disappeared. The only thing that was left was the flapping of the curtain against the window to the night sky. Nadia may be able to heal but she truly believes that this man will be the death of her. Heart problems were no joke. 

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” The nurse asks her. 

“Oh, no. I’m sorry. I’m doing fine.”

The nurse gave her a weird look and Nadia understood because she would do the same if a patient acted this strangely. Nadia sighed. It couldn’t have been helped but it would be nicer that this wasn’t the nice nurse’s first impression of Nadia. 

“You’re awake a lot earlier than we anticipated,” the nurse noted. “We were able to get the bullet out of your foot and stitch you up. You just need to take care of your wound and you won’t be able to stand on that foot until it’s fully healed. We’ve already spoken to Dr. Coleman about your situation and you’re allowed up to a month of leave to heal up.”

Nadia grimaced, “A month?”

“Dr. Diggs suspects that you would be in tip-top shape in a couple of weeks, but we’re being generous in case anything happens.”

Nadia nodded, “That’s understandable. Thank you for filling me in.” 

“Of course. I’m Nurse Heather. If you need help with anything, I trust you know where the buzzer is.”

“That I do, thanks again.”

“Just my job.” The nurse bid Nadia goodnight. 

That night, Nadia fell into a fitful sleep. The incident stirred up old memories of Nadia’s childhood. She tried her best to sleep every time she awoke, but eventually, Nadia gave up. She could only stare at the ceiling, as she waited for the sun to rise. Nadia didn’t know how she could handle two weeks without working. It was one of the only ways that she could fall into a peaceful sleep. 

—🝰—

Nadia woke up the next day, groggy to all hell. Ideally, she would be sleeping more but she awoke due to a different nurse rummaging in her room. 

She sat up and tried to get her bearing together. This sucks so bad. 

“Oh, you’re awake!” And even though Nadia understood the nurse was trying her best, it was still way too soon for Nadia to hear a loud voice. 

Nadia greeted the woman to which she began updating Nadia on her status. It was pretty much what Nadia had suspected in regards to her condition. She nodded along to whatever the nurse had to say about her health. 

She couldn’t focus. She hadn’t been hurt that badly in a long time. Getting shot and going through that high-intensity situation brought up memories that she doesn’t allow her mind to think about. 

Nadia paid enough attention to catch that she could leave the hospital once her guardian came to help her out and that she would be using crutches for the foreseeable future. Naida wanted to yell. Annoyed that she needed to use crutches and even more pissed off that her thoughts weren’t quieting down.

The nurse stopped talking to her and left her to wait for her guardian. Nadia assumes that the doctor that was taking care of her had already spoken to Sally. 

Nadia took time to reflect on what happened the other day. She studied her hands to distract herself. They felt a tad bit dry. She couldn’t imagine that the nurses were moisturizing her for the past day. They look pretty normal albeit a bit scratched up from the night before. Nadia picked up what she could remember about the night. She was speaking to Jeffrey. There was a loud noise. Nadia was grabbed and then she was shot. There was more talking and threatening involved but Nadia could care less about the details. Catwoman jumps in and saves the day. Bruce Wayne helped get her out. She wakes up and then Batman scolds her? Okay. Caught up. 

Nadia sighed, she needed to text Sally. According to her clock, it was almost the afternoon. As Nadia was about the reach for her phone, her hospital door opened. 

Sally. Familiarity. Good. 

Nadia smiled, “You finally made it.” 

“Don’t be ungrateful, I was here yesterday.” 

Right. Yesterday. Nadia had missed a whole day. 

“They say I can leave,” Nadia told the woman. She threw her blanket off of her and swung her legs over the bed. “And quite frankly, I’m ready to get out of here.”

“Nadia wait-” Sally was in the middle of her warning when Nadia stood up and immediately fell back down on the bed. 

“Ow!” She exclaimed. “Why did that hurt so bad!?”

“For a doctor, you have no sense of your health. It’s disheartening.” Sally shakes her head.

Nadia wanted to laugh but the pain that shot through her foot and up her leg was seriously ruining the mood. “Yeah, well, I don’t normally get hurt, Sally. I’m sure you understand why.” 

Sally raised an eyebrow at the woman and her implication. “Yes, of course. Your job and only your job is the reason why you normally don’t get hurt often.” 

“Perks of being a doctor,” Nadia shrugs, using the crutches that were next to her bed as an aide to walk to the bathroom.

“Cheeky,” Sally said in an unamused tone that made Nadia laugh. 

Nadia got changed with clothes that Sally brought from her home. She took her time, realizing that a hole in your foot was way more inconvenient than Nadia had imagined. She couldn’t wait to get home and heal herself up, this was ridiculous. 

Finally, after half an hour of getting ready, they checked out and headed home.

When Nadia was finally in the comforts of her apartment, she flopped on the sofa. Sighing in relief, she snuggled into the pillows as Sally was putting down groceries they picked up on the way. 

“Are you okay?” Sally asked. 

“Fine.”

“You were never good at handling high-stress situations, Nadia,” Sally said and Nadia could hear the frown in her voice. “You get worse after them, I need you to talk to me.” 

Nadia opens her eyes and looks over to the woman, towering over her. “I’m fine. I’m a big girl now. It’s different.” 

“Trauma doesn’t heal in a day.” 

  
“Sally,” Nadia smiles. “With all due respect, I’m fine. Not traumatized, either. You don’t need to hover over me to make a point. I’m okay.”

Sally crossed her arms, staring at the woman on the couch. She didn't seem convinced but she was trying to find something in Nadia’s answer that would alert her otherwise.

After an eternity, Sally said, “Fine. I’ll back off. Just know that I’m here if you ever need me.”

“Of course,” Nadia agrees and shuts her eyes again. Nadia wasn’t weak. She could deal with anything her head wants to tell her on her own. She wasn’t that little girl anymore and anyone that she’s worried about is locked up. So, nothing to worry about. 

“How long do you want me to be here?” Sally asked. 

Nadia shrugs, “It doesn’t matter to me, I’ll be healing myself in a bit, I won’t need you to help me out with anything. If I see anyone I’ll pretend to be hurt and use the crutches.” 

Sally nods, “Okay. That sounds good.” 

They spent the rest of the day catching up a bit. Nadia told her everything that happened at the Gala and Sally told her about the progress that Batman’s made. He did in fact, catch the culprit and dismantled whatever organization that was conspiring. He also contacted different heroes in other cities that they hit frequently to also get on the case and bust the operations. 

Nadia was shocked that he also worked with other people on occasion. She knew she was an exception but she wasn’t a superhero. Batman was a lot more social than she gave him credit for. Maybe that’s why the whole thing took that long, he knew that it was bigger and it needed to be handled more carefully. 

Sally went on about some other STAR Labs projects they were working on. Nadia could barely keep up with her lingo when it came to quantum physics but she sounded excited and it distracted Nadia enough so she let Sally ramble on. Nadia heard that Cisco was working on some part of it. Nadia really couldn’t comprehend how the guy holds so much knowledge in his head like that but she manages to impress her anyway.

Sally made a bunch of comfort food for Nadia. She thinks that she might not even need to go out to eat for a few weeks because Sally went all out. Nadia smiles at the warmth in her stomach from the lemon chicken soup. Nadia never realizes how much she misses Sally until Sally was there with Nadia. She filled up a Sally-shaped vacancy in Nadia’s life. 

Sally went on now about an emerging lab romance she was rooting for making Nadia grin. Yeah, it’s going to suck when she leaves. This was nice. 

Before Nadia knew it, the sun went down. The two decided that it was in Sally’s best interest to stay the night. 

Nadia didn’t sleep that night. It wasn’t new. Nadia liked working for a reason, it helped her sleep. Getting so tired that she passes out was her best mode of sleep. The fact that she could heal herself if she ever overworked herself helped. 

However, Nadia didn’t work for the past few days and only slept. It made complete sense of why she couldn’t sleep. She wasn’t tired enough. It posed a problem for Nadia’s ‘resting’ situation. 

It was fine though, she would deal with it later. 

The next day, Sally was leaving. 

Before she left for Central City, Sally handed Nadia a piece of paper. 

“What’s this?” Nadia said. She read the list of chemicals alongside some locations. It looked very technical but it was easier to keep track of and read than what Nadia usually saw on Sally’s laptop.

“I was hoping you’d tell me,” Sally shrugs. “Cisco told me to give it to you, I dug it up in my bag last night. I almost forgot to give it to you. He also says that he hopes you get better.”

“Oh!” Nadia’s eyes scanned over the list in a new light. This was the drug information that Batman needed from her. This was perfect timing. Batman finished up with the serial robbers and now he can focus on putting down the drug dealings. “It’s some new drug on the market right now. We found it on one of the patients and I was curious about it. We’ve got some scientists working on it but they’re not as fast or efficient as Cisco.” 

Nadia can be an effective liar when she plans it out beforehand and doesn’t wing it. 

“Understandable,” Sally nodded. Nadia caught the cocky glint in her guardian’s eyes making Nadia smile. “Well, he said he hoped it helped.”

“It definitely will,” Nadia put down the list. “Tell him I’m grateful, I’ll send him a text but still.” 

“Of course.”

Sally paused at the door, taking in her daughter for a final time. “If you need anything, I’m a phone call away, don't forget that.”

Nadia nods her head, “I know Sally. I’m grateful to you, I know you always have my back. I’ll let you know if anything’s wrong.” 

Sally nodded, looking concerned despite Nadia reassuring the woman. Nadia just wished her a safe trip back to shake off the conversation.

Closing the door, Nadia yawns. She’s been holding it in ever since she came out of her room to Sally. Lack of sleep was no joke.

Nadia sat down on the couch, deciding that this was a good time to heal herself. But she remembered that she was due for a check-up in a week. Her shoulders slouched, the faster that this thing is healed and fixed, the better Nadia’s sleep will be. She’ll just have to wait it out a bit.

Nadia will be fine. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nadia says she's but alas how will that hold up?
> 
> I would love to hear what you guys thought of the chapter!
> 
> Thank you so much for supporting the story and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)


	8. Nadia Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot.
> 
> Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.
> 
> [set pre-young justice but will eventually catch up to yj plotlines]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)

Night One. Nadia was in bed trying to sleep. No matter how much she twisted and turned, nothing worked. Nadia was left staring at her wall to pass the time and listen to the sirens of ambulances pass her neighborhood.

—🝰—

Night Two. Just as Nadia thought that she was going to fall asleep, a panic lodges itself deep into her heart and forcefully woke her up again. Nadia repeats night one after that too scared of it happening again.

—🝰—

Night Three. She’s turned to reading. Nadia was convinced that reading has to get her tired enough to sleep. Nadia read until the sun peeking through her windows could light up her book, replacing the lamp beside her bed.

—🝰—

Night Four. Nadia knows that she has to be tired by now. Three sleepless nights and Nadia hadn’t passed out by exhaustion yet? Unheard of. But as she lays down, mind wandering, she thinks that it’s not as unheard of as she may think.

—🝰—

Night Five. Nadia exercised the entire day. Nadia added on an extra night of no sleep alongside physical torture. As the universe would have it, her plan did not succeed this time either. Nadia thinks that she may just be the unluckiest person she knows. 

—🝰—

Night Six. Nadia hadn’t slept for the past five nights. She had enough of it. She didn’t care about the consequences. Nadia didn’t like her powers for anything but healing but this had to be an exception, Nadia thinks she might ruin her body at this rate. Nadia used her powers to produce melatonin and finally, she was able to fall into a dreamless slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nadia, convinced she's fine and nothing will affect her:  
> Me, writing this out: So that was a fucking lie.  
> I went for an artistic choice of making this a little tidbit to show her first week in recovery. Make it short and sweet. I don't know if it hit the same but I'm happy with it.
> 
> I would love to hear what you guys thought of the chapter!
> 
> Thank you so much for supporting the story and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)


	9. Everything Will Be Fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot.
> 
> Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.
> 
> [set pre-young justice but will eventually catch up to yj plotlines]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)

Nadia went to her doctor’s appointment for her check-up. Dr. Wilson predicted that she would take up to three weeks to fully recover from her injuries. Nadia smiled along with his predictions. They were accurate and the same as what Nadia would guess would be her recovery time. 

Nadia didn’t doubt that with the new technology that Wayne Enterprises was pumping into the hospitals in Gotham that it could be even quicker but the surgery already did most of the work. She was on a fast recovery considering the usual time was far longer. The good doctor had gone for a slightly slower healing treatment that would ease her body back anew, not that she needed it.

Despite the shorter time spent healing, she was still supposed to be bed-ridden. Safe to say, Nadia was feeling frustrated with the predicament that she’s found herself in.

Nadia decided throughout the appointment that she will never try to be noticeable ever again. It was one thing if Nadia had broken leg in secret, fixed it, and went on with her day. Having her injury broadcasted on daytime news and all of her colleagues witnessing it was disastrous. She had to act like she was hurt and it was the worst.

Dr. Wilson told her that if everything was going well she didn’t need to do check-ups until the three weeks were up and then said that she was all good to get checked out.

Nadia celebrated at the news. She would go home and then heal herself up as soon as possible. No way would she go weeks without seeing a doctor and have to deal with it in pain. There were times where she would hate or regret her powers but this was not one of them.

When she went home and healed herself up, Nadia was just glad that she didn’t need to walk around with crutches anymore. It was a win in a sea of losses for Nadia but to keep morale up, she’ll take it.

Nadia still had to keep on the bandage, though. She realized that Batman was the one guy who continuously visited her. With that in mind, she was not keen on giving hints to the greatest detective in Gotham that she had a fun little party trick. 

Nadia pretty much made it a habit that once it got dark, she would pretend that she couldn’t walk around the house. It was going to be tedious as hell but to protect her secret, Nadia could make an exception. She did not want Batman to sneak up on her and find her foot as good as new. 

Nadia remembered about the drug list after lounging around one day. With all of the insomnia that she’s been experiencing, Fever had left her mind. 

Nadia needed to contact Batman to let him know that she has the information that he needed. She wondered if the number that Batman gave her was accessible for her to contact the man and not just the other way around.

After little contemplation, she sent out a text. 

**_BOATMAN_ **

**meet me today, fever info**

Then Nadia waited. 

Her days were going by like molasses, in that it was so slow and unpleasant. Nadia couldn’t enjoy her time off. She’s always liked her job and liked working. All this free time was driving her up a wall. She hated not being out there to help, she has powers for a reason, no use in not using them. 

Nadia sighed. She also missed her coworkers. The week following her check-up appointment with Dr. Wilson, Harry and Tanya visited her to check up on her. She didn’t like people coming to her apartment but she made an exception. Allison also made time to call her and ask if everything was okay. It was all very nice of them to do, for some reason she hadn’t expected it. It visited mean even more to her.

They told her they were holding down the fort whilst she was away. Nadia didn’t doubt them. She’d hope she would join them sooner than later though. Nadia was itching to get back to work with them.

She also got an awkward call from Coleman, out of the blue. She had already informed her superior that she would be needing to take a break but he called despite that. Nadia didn’t think he would be the type to check up but she assumed it was in some manual to being a good boss. All performance, Naida assumed.

Something peculiar happened during the week. Maybe the most interesting thing that occurred was about Selina Kyle, the woman Nadia spoke to at the Gala had sent her a get well basket. Someone had rung her doorbell and left the gift. Nadia didn’t even get to see who the delivery person was. They left it and dipped. 

Nadia didn’t expect the woman to be interested in Nadia. Sure she gave her her card but that was a networking thing. Nothing personal. So imagine Nadia’s surprise looking at the basket filled to the brim with expensive assorted treats and alcohol. Nadia didn’t think that recovery and alcohol mixed but she was grateful to the woman for the thought, regardless.

Nadia still had her number and wondered how the woman could have gotten her address. She didn’t doubt that the influential Selina Kyle had her ways. Nadia took the gift in stride, enjoying that despite the events of the Gala maybe Nadia made a friend. 

Unfortunately, those few instances were the only highlights of her weeks of resting.

She goes through her days wasting away. Nadia respected the trophy wife's lifestyle but she couldn’t deal with it. She had to be doing something. Nadia just reads all day, eats, and gets caught up on local news. Sometimes she would call Sally or Tanya. She tried her hand at baking a cherry pie. However, from the smoke alarm blaring from her kitchen, she decided that she should stick to Enzo’s pies.

There were a few instances when her college friends called Nadia up and asked about her health. They saw on the news about the Gala. It’s reached local news around nearby cities. It must be because Batman worked with the heroes of other cities to take down the robbers. 

But college friends catching up could barely count for anything exciting. Most of the conversation was Nadia assuring that she was fine and the other person insisting on meeting up after so long. If Nadia and her college friends were going to go through with plans of getting lunch in the future, Nadia doubted but it was a nice thing to think about.

Nadia’s days were truly the epitome of excitement. 

Not. 

On this particular day, she’d asked for Batman to come and meet her. She’s done the exact rinse and repeat cycle that she’s been doing for the past week. It was miserable. Nadia was dying to feel helpful. So, Batman’s visit should be the perfect solution.

Now that Nadia was thinking about it, she realized that the vigilante hadn’t visited her that often. It’s been a good week and sure it wasn’t out of the norm but it was something right? Perhaps Nadia had just felt lonely by being holed up in her apartment for so long. She couldn’t even differentiate how often Batman usually visits her. 

This was bad. 

Nadia stayed up to wait for Batman quite late. She was uncertain if he would come since he never responded to her text but it wasn't like she had any other options. 

Despite healing up her foot, Nadia was still having trouble sleeping. Nadia was sure that after she healed herself whatever was affecting her mentally would fix itself naturally since that’s worked in the past. It was a puzzle that Nadia couldn’t get a handle on but she just let it happen. If it ever gets too long when Nadia couldn’t go without sleep, she would use her powers to make herself fall asleep like the last time. 

She was watching some random show on her sofa when the window that faced the alleyway opened. 

She stilled at the new commotion. Nadia was hesitant to always expect Batman whenever it seemed like someone was breaking in. She only relaxed when she saw the familiar black-gloved hands. 

Again, it cannot be good that a black-gloved hand was giving her comfort. Nadia was conditioning herself into getting robbed or something, the more she thought about it the more ridiculous she realizes her situation is. 

Luckily, she didn’t need to think about it any longer, watching the window and Batman was distracting enough.

Batman’s head poked inside the window and turned to spot her. He did it in an animated way that you see in cartoons. Nadia raised an eyebrow, holding back a laugh. Not only that, it was awfully cute for a man that goes out and beats up bad guys for a hobby. 

Nadia smiles, her favorite Batboy. 

Well, the only Batboy she knows but you get the point.

“Long time no see!” Nadia greeted, happy to be face to face with someone again.

“How have you been?” He asked when he finally stepped in and stood near the window, watching the street.

“Ohhh, pleasantries! Might need to get shot more often if I’m getting the golden treatment from Batman.” 

He only gave her a blank stare in response to her shit-eating grin. The man didn’t find her joke funny but she was having a good time. Dare she even suggest that Nadia had missed the man ever since the last time she saw him. 

“I’m doing okay,” Nadia told him after a pause. “Healing as expected. I’m supposed to get back to work in a few weeks. It’s all thanks to Wayne Tech. Their science departments hot stuff, have you heard?”

He only narrows his eyes but doesn't comment more on her health nor Wayne Technologies. “You have information?”

Nadia grabbed the paper from her coffee table and handed it over to the man. He walked over and grabbed it. “This is the verdict from STAR Labs.” 

“How’d you manage to get intel without being questioned?” Batman asked as he started to read over the paper. 

  
“I told them what it was, a new drug in the market. I said it was found in a patient and it would help with symptoms if I could figure some stuff out.” Nadia shrugs. “I’m usually a shit liar but I thought that one out a bit. Plus, I asked my friend Cisco first and he owes me some favors.” 

He looked up and raised an eyebrow at the woman but again, didn’t question further. “Good work. This will help. Also, I don’t plan to ask you for your help in the weeks that you’re healing from that.”

He did not just say what Nadia thought he had just said.

Nadia’s eyes widened. “What? Why?” 

“You should focus on yourself.” 

Focusing on Nadia’s-self was terrible advice. The only thing she’s been doing has been focusing on herself and it’s been torture. It was the worst time of her life since she was fourteen. Batman’s acting like this was something important. How bad can a shot in the foot be to someone who goes and seeks out supervillains as his nighttime activities?

Nadia scoffed, “Listen, I know that I got shot and all but that doesn’t mean I’m useless. If you need help I can help.”

Batman didn’t look convinced. “Have you been sleeping?”

Well, that was out of nowhere.

Nadia’s eyebrows bunched up. “I don’t understand why that’s important?”

“As soon as I saw you, I noticed a few things. You’re less alert than usual. Your movements are sluggish. Dark circles under your eyes. Not to mention you’re extremely pale. You look like the energy was sapped out of you. I know how a gunshot feels. You should be on a lot of pain medicine yet you’re awake at this hour.” 

Nadia didn’t even know how to respond. 

“You got into a traumatic incident. Take time for yourself.”

If Nadia could see herself she was sure that she looked like a fish out of water. Mouth and eyes wide open and a sense of confusion just oozing out of her. She couldn’t believe this. 

“Okay, so, you think I’m not getting sleep. Which, I will not be confirming or denying because it’s not your business. I can still do my job, I would still be able to heal you. It doesn't have to do with anything.” 

Batman’s eyes narrowed. Hello again, Batglare. It’s been a while. 

“It’s my business when the people I work with aren’t in their best condition,” Batman frowned. “I need you in your best condition.” 

Nadia’s mouth opened to say something but she closed it. Nadia suspected that Batman would be the one person in her life that would be supportive of her continuing to help him. Not be considerate. Was she in an alternate reality?

Best condition, Nadia criticized herself. Nadia with a surge of power through her body could get into whatever best condition Batman was thinking about. She matched his glare with her own. It only made him narrow his eyes even further. Nadia was fighting Batman about letting her help him and he was saying no. This was an idiotic decision on his part.

“What if you were in a life-threatening situation and you needed medical assistance quickly and you were in the area and I was your only option and whoever your other medic is wouldn't be able to help you?” 

Batman gave her yet another blank stare. This time, it was more ‘Are you an idiot, or are you just being intentionally stubborn?’. Nadia didn’t like how he was able to emote that much in a look. She disliked even more that she could decipher it. 

“I’ll make sure to be extra careful,” said Batman. 

Nadia wondered if he was looking down on him or does he prioritize the well-being of the people who help him that much. Batman despite being someone who lives a double life didn’t seem the type to lie about something like this. Maybe if it was as important to him as he says then that will be it. It’s not like Nadia could convince him to visit her. That’s just plain weird, anyways. 

Nadia’s shoulders slouched, admitting defeat. Great, she was going to be useless for a month. Fantastic. 

“Fine,” she sighed. “Be on your crime-fighting way, Batman. I’ll see you in a few weeks.” 

He nodded, turned around, and left as quickly as he came. 

Just when she was missing the man, he denies her! Rejected her! For what? Her nonexistent bullet wound? 

Nadia shakes her head, knowing that she was being irrational. She should be happy that he was even being nice about her injury. Batman was a lot fairer than she had thought. It made sense that if she were taking sick leave from her job she would do it when helping Batman.

All that being said, Nadia was going to be stuck in her house for two weeks without human interaction. That was a recipe for disaster if she’s ever seen one. 

It’s fine. If she thinks negatively, then it will end up being negative. Just positive thoughts. All will be well. Her next few weeks will be wonderful and calming. Nadia was putting good energy out into the universe just in case.

Everything will be fine.

—🝰—

The blaring light from the hospital was beating down on the doctor. The hall had an eerie gray-green sheen to it. It was familiar but nauseating, as if, even a small shift would warp all perspective of the hallway. Everything in the hallway looked pristine as a hospital should but there was simply something too perfect about the image. Something inherently wrong about how deserted-looking a normally busy hospital looked.

The usual bustle of the hospital couldn’t be heard on this day. Any sound that was being made all sounded muffled like there was glass surrounding the noise. Or trapping the noise. No one could be sure. The entire hallway was deathly silent besides a low muffling noise. Or was it a hum? 

Lights dangling overhead made creaking sounds as scribbling noises could be heard. 

Nadia was in the middle of the hallway. Decked out in scrubs and a coat, she looked like every other day at the hospital, albeit a bit tired. She looked up from her clipboard, reading the file on the door she’d enter soon. 

Nadia looked back down and wrote something indistinguishable down. The scribbling noise from her pen and the paper, uncharacteristically sharp.

Nadia knocked on the door to make the patient aware of her presence and walked in. 

“Amity and Abraham?” She asked, still reading her clipboard. Their names were gigantic on the piece of paper. It was the only that could be made out from the entire sheet of paper. All other writing was nowhere to be seen. 

There wasn’t any response for a moment. Nadia kept on reading her clipboard even though there was nothing more to read. Her eyes were glued like it wasn’t ready to look up. 

“We’ve missed you, Amy.” Their voices were combined, distorted, and faint. It resembled water. It rolled right off of anyone listening, slightly muffled and warbly.

Nadia finally looked up to the two.

The woman was white. She looked like she was made of bones. If anyone asked she was reminiscent of a skeleton. Her appearance was sickly looking. Her hair was stringy and long. She may have looked young if she did herself up more but her health was deteriorating, very obviously. The woman’s eyes were her most noticeable feature. They were bright blue. They would be beautiful if they didn’t look like they were ready to fall off her face. 

The man loomed over, in comparison. He was sturdy. He was also white with blonde full hair. It was shaved in a military buzz cut. His squared jaw and large frame made him look foreboding. He looked much healthier than the woman in terms of meat to his bones. But there was something off about the man. His skin was discolored. It wasn’t noticeable at first glance but the more one watched, the more strange his skin looked. It was like he was in a fight but even then, that didn’t explain the yellowing mixed into a bruising purple. A hint of green was spreading over his body very slowly.

The two made quite a horrendous pair to look at. 

Despite their physical appearance, their clothes were pristine. They didn’t look like the type to have such nice clothes. The woman was in a black dress and the man, in a black suit. They looked like they had somewhere to be, one of those places not being a hospital. 

The odd couple was the only thing in the hospital that looked out of place. As if their mere existence was to disrupt the cohesion of the area they were in. The light continued to beat down the two but it was like even then there was something dark about them. 

Nadia’s eyes blinked multiple times at the couple. She looked confused like she was unsure of the two. Her face asked why they were there, but her mouth remained shut.

“You know we don’t like it when you don’t answer us, Amy,” The woman smiled. 

Her smile was fine at first but the more time passed the more sickly sweet it was. Fake. It was a fake smile that had poison behind it. Nothing good would have come from that smile. 

Nadia's eyes widened, a brief look of horror crossed her face.

Oh! It seemed like she finally recognized them. It did take her long enough. Couldn’t be helped, it’s been a long since she’s last seen the two. What will she do next? 

Nadia turned around and ran for the door, out into the hallway. She dropped her clipboard and made for the hallways towards the elevators. 

She looked behind her down the hall to be met with the two in full pursuit. 

The creeks of the hanging light and scribbling overcame the silence in the hospital. A low humming, that was previously barely detectable got louder and louder. 

Even though the couple both looked ill they had incredible speed for their appearance. Their arms moving back and forth to catch up with the doctor, were flailing a tad. If they were to fling, even more, their arms could fly off. Their legs were not better, it was an unnatural way they were maneuvering. Their joints weren’t fully connected like they were being rag-dolled into chasing after the woman. 

With how they looked running, they should not be able to have the speed to catch up. 

The two looked inhuman, grabbing at the air to aid them to gain speed on the doctor. 

The humming felt like it was so close now.

Nadia had a significant lead but every time she turned to look back to gauge how close the couple was, they got closer and closer. 

On the contrary, Nadia’s running got slower and slower. It was like her legs were getting weaker. It burned, Nadia tried for another push of speed but it only slowed her to a stop. 

Nadia looked back once again. No one. 

They disappeared.

She looked around frantically trying to catch sight of the couple. Nothing. The hall was empty of all life except for the doctor just like it once was. The humming sound was the loudest it’s ever been.

Despite that, she didn’t see anyone or where the couple may have gone. Nadia stayed in place, eyes darting everywhere like she was scared of them jumping out of her. 

Even in her disorientated state, she was not sweating nor was she breathing heavily. 

She stopped in front of the door. The door that went into the room where the couple previously was. She never left. All that running and she was exactly where she started. It seemed to frustrate the woman more that she couldn’t find the couple than that she was here. 

Nadia glanced down for a moment only to be met with her legs chained up. The chains were bulky and rusting. It looked like it fit like a glove on Nadia’s ankles. It made a clanging noise as if they just appeared and maybe they did. It made the pretty white floor of the hospital dirty. Nadia moved her leg back, only for the chains to scratch the floor and create ugly looking streaks of brown rust. 

Naida glanced at her wrist and saw that they were in the same state. The clunk sound immediately after, Nadia held up her hands to inspect the chains.

Nadia’s eyes followed the chain behind her to where it would be attached to. 

The humming, creaking, and scribbling came to a halt. It was silent again. 

Nadia was met with another room. She was no longer in the hospital. 

A basement. The basement was enforced by wooden pillars. It looked sickly like it hasn’t been cleaned in years. There was a lab area on the opposite side of her. Everywhere else in the room was muddy and dim except for that spot. It was pristine just like the hospital once was. 

Looking forward, she caught sight of the couple once again. 

Nadia was in a cage, chained up, and could only see them between the rusting bars. 

The two were wearing regular clothes now. They looked healthy. They looked like they were glowing in good health. Even in this environment, they serve to contrast the ugliness of the basement with their well-being. They continued to disrupt the environment they reside in. 

The man was holding a child this time.

It was a boy around the age of ten maybe a bit older. He had curly brown hair and was quite a lanky boy. Not only that he was covered to the brim with scars, cuts, and bruises as if his skin hadn’t known a time before them. The clothes the boy was wearing were in top condition. It looked like newly washed clothes. The boy resembled more like the couple we saw the first time than what the couple looked like now.

The child was blindfolded, gagged, and crying. He was being yanked around by the man like the man could care less about him. The child struggled but it was no use the man towered over him. Finally, the man secured the child in a headlock. 

“Amy, why don’t you be useful, dear?” said the woman, Amity. Her voice was soft and sweet but Nadia only looked sick. 

“Let him go,” Nadia tells them. 

Though the two looked harmless, the glinting knife that the man, Abraham, was holding told a different story. 

“Do what we want and we won’t hurt him,” he told Nadia, voice rough. 

“I won’t listen to you,” Nadia shook her head, glaring. “Ever.”

Amity shrugged, “I was hoping you’d be more cooperative but we can have it your way.”

Amity looked over at Abraham and he swung his knife. 

“No!” Nadia screamed, lunging towards the child through the bars of the cage. Hand reaching out in an attempt to stop the knife from plunging into its target. 

Nadia was yanked by the chain in the last second, effectively waking her up in the process with a jolt. 

She shot up from the bed, breathing heavily, looking around the room but it was too dark to make out anything.

Nadia was in a cold sweat. 

She looked into the darkness of her bedroom, trying to calm her breathing at the same time. No one was there. She was in her house alone. It was a dream and it's been twelve years since she saw those two. 

Nadia glanced over at her clock, two in the morning.

God, what the hell was that? 

Nadia turns on her light in her room. Surveying the room, she deemed it safe that no one was there and that she could move. Nadia wraps her blanket around herself and moves to her living room. 

She turned the light in every single space of her house. She needed to see every crevice of her space. She needed to make a routine out of checking if anything was out of place. 

Nothing was.

Everything was fine. 

No one was in her apartment, she was alone. No one was watching her because this was her apartment and there was no one there. Nadia reminded herself this in her head like a mantra, hoping that it would stick. 

Nadia sat on the couch and turned on the television. She needed a distraction but her eyes were glazed over. She wasn’t paying attention to whatever was happening on the screen. 

Where were they? What were they doing?

Naida’s breath picked up at her loose string of thoughts. 

Nadia reached over at her phone, which she brought along to light her way through her once dark apartment. 

Dialing Sally’s number she waited until the woman picked up. 

“Hello?” Sally’s groggy voice cut through the speaker. It was two in the morning after all. No one sane was up at that time.

Nadia could feel herself loosen up by the wound of the woman’s voice. Nadia took a moment to revel in the familiarity, grounding herself back into rationality.

“Hello?” Sally asked again, her breathing went away for a bit and then came back. She was probably rechecking to see who had called her so late into the night. “Nadia? Is that you?” 

“Where are they?” 

Sally paused. The hesitation made Nadia’s heart rate pick up once more. She didn’t know if she was breathing, her chest felt heavy and stiff. Sally didn’t know where they were. They were going to come for Nadia. She wasn’t safe, she needed to leave. She needed to go before they-

“Asylum.” 

Asylum... They were locked up. 

“Where? What asylum?” Nadia asked in a rush.

“Arkham Asylum.” Sally’s confident voice made Nadia breathe again. Good. They were locked up in Arkham Asylum.

“Can they get to me?” Nadia’s voice, small.

Sally’s voice was softer now, “No. No, Nadia, they can never get to you.” 

“What if they do? What if they break out and they come and they find me and I have to leave? What if they catch me and I can’t fight them and I have to do what they wanted me to do? Remember Jose? What if I have to-”

  
“Nadia!” Sally commanded Nadia’s attention back to the woman. “They can’t hurt you or anyone else.” 

“They can’t hurt me?” Nadia felt like a kid again when Sally first found her. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” Sally assured me. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course.” 

“Trust that they can no longer get to you.”

Nadia took a couple of deep breathes for good measures. Okay, they can’t get to Nadia. If Sally says it then it goes. It’s the law in Nadia’s books. They can no longer hurt her. 

“How are you?” Sally asks after a few minutes of listening to Nadia’s breath even out.

“I’m okay now,” Nadia breathed out.

“Do you want me to come to Gotham for you?”

Nadia hesitated. She wanted to say yes. God, she wanted to say yes so bad. 

“No.”

“Are you sure?” Because Sally knows that Nadia never says what she means when Sally asked. She always needed to ask a second time. 

“I’m sure,” Nadia whispered. “Big girl, remember? I got this.”

“I know,” Nadia could hear Sally’s smile. “I’m proud of you. I’m going to hang up now. Get some sleep. Call me if you need to be grounded again.” 

Sally hung up and that ended an episode. 

In all of Nadia’s pent up fear and disappointment, she threw her phone across the room. Nadia grabbed one of her throw pillows and screamed into it. Why was she like this? Because some people screwed her when she was young? Nadia was supposed to be over something like that it wasn’t supposed to affect her anymore. 

It just left her with another night without sleep. Just when she thought she was finally getting somewhere.

She placed down the pillow and sat still. She listened to the cars that drove by her apartment. The ambulances. The sound of glass hitting concrete. People yelling in a drunken stupor. The sounds of the city kept her together.

After an hour of listening to the sound outside of her apartment, Nadia concludes that there was nothing to be alert about. She leaned back on her couch and got comfortable. Her shoulders were no longer tense. 

Once she gets back to work and helps Batman again, everything will go back to normal. She would just have to tough it through in the time being. This time, it’ll work and she’ll feel better. Everything will be better when she’s useful, again. 

Everything will be fine. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nadia's mental stability: *on fire*  
> Nadia: This is fine :D  
> Our girl isn't doing too hot. Recovery is not treating her well and now an ominous and familiar nightmare has unfortunately caused a manic reaction. :(
> 
> A fun fact some of you might be interested in: I started to outline and write some scenes of a very NSFW Bruce Wayne pre-Batman fic. I don't know if it's going anywhere and I feel like it's kind of awkward especially with the NSFW scenes but it's basically smut practice and I might post it if there's legit plot. It's been eating my time and taking my attention away from this story so please forgive me if the updates get slower and slower.
> 
> I would love to hear what you guys thought of the chapter!
> 
> Thank you so much for supporting the story and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)


	10. Nadia Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot.
> 
> Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.
> 
> [set pre-young justice but will eventually catch up to yj plotlines]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)

“Nadia!” Harry greeted walking into the locker room, spotting the doctor. 

“Harry!” She returned the enthusiasm, turning to her friend.  
  


“You’re back! We’ve missed you so much.” 

“I’m glad I was missed,” Nadia put her things away and got ready for her shift. 

After two weeks of rest, Nadia was cleared by Dr. Wilson to go back to work. He was surprised that the wound healed that well but Nadia just waved him off saying that she tended to heal very fast, with an awkward smile. Luckily, he didn’t question it and so she went on her merry way. Finally, cleared to get back to work.

Nadia continued to have problems falling asleep but some nights when it got too much with a little help from her powers she would fall into a dreamless sleep. Those were her best nights. Luckily, last night she was able to sleep. She was able to wake up that afternoon fine and get to her night shift. 

She was still quite tired but she wasn’t about to let it show.

After Batman had effectively called her out when she looked exhausted, Nadia fixed herself up. Nadia used her powers to get rid of the dark circles and increase some neurotransmitters to help energize her when she was getting ready in the bathroom. 

She looked as well-rested as someone who took leave for a month should. 

Nadia and Harry made small talk about how things have been at the hospital as they walked over to the receptionist. 

“Nadia, it’s nice to see your face,” Tanya told her when they walked up to the nurse 

  
“I could say the same about you,” Nadia’s eyes shone at the woman. “I did miss work and seeing you guys every day. It’s just not the same.” 

“Ever since you’ve been gone,” Tanya started in a low voice. She looked around making sure no one else could hear them besides Harry. “Coleman’s had a change of heart, not as much of an ass like before. It’s like he finally realized what he lost when he lost it.” 

“I’m happy to hear but it’s Coleman, Tanya. What’s the chance in that?” Nadia shakes her head. 

“I think it’s a step in the right direction.” 

“Well, I hope so.” 

The three of them got caught up a bit more before they started to visit patients together. 

Nadia was working general instead of ER as she would usually. 

The patients weren’t as crazy as they usually were which made Nadia glad because this was a great way to come back into the job again. However, there was an exception because one patient was particularly concerning. 

Nadia was handed this patient from the ER unit. This was a young white male in his teens. He was rushed in by paramedics for being overdosed on some drug. It caused him to act sporadically. He wreaked havoc on a restaurant before passing out. Even when he has knocked out the nerves in his body caused him to twitch. 

Nadia didn’t want to assume the worse but the symptoms aligned with the ones that Batman mentioned about those twelve-year-old girls.

There was a blood sample being done on him to see what type of drug it was after he was finally stabilized. 

Nadia took a look at the list Sally brought back to her and she knew the key ingredients in the drug. Nadia would have to wait and see.

Nadia slipped into his room that they moved him to after letting Harry know that she would check up on the patient. She wanted to see what was going on in his body. 

Nadia did the regular check-ups and finished fairly quickly. Everything was fine. However, Nadia knew there had to be residual drugs left in his system. 

She touches his arm to take a look inside his bloodstream and nervous system. As expected, he was not fully clean from the drug by all means. It stayed pretty long in a person’s system. 

She saw what neurotransmitters were being activated and shook her head. It was lining up with what Batman had told her. It made sense why the patient would act erratically. 

Nadia couldn’t help but feel bad, this was a hardcore drug that was also affecting his brain. Nadia didn’t like going into brains often. Cancer, she can help take care of it because she at least knew why it was doing what it was doing. The brain, on the other hand, was so much more tricky. 

It was complex and scientists still barely know how it truly operates. It’s a mystery. Nadia could help with blunt force injuries that are basic like concussions but when it comes to anything that’s seriously broken, she can’t exactly do that. At least not in the electrical haywire that is the brain. Nadia’s powers work in a way that she needed to understand the inner workings of a certain function to be able to affect it. 

Over the years Nadia had excelled in learning all of the other important bodily functions but she never quite cracked brain-related illnesses. 

Nadia quickly sped up the metabolizing process of the drug to get rid of it from his system. She didn’t think he was at risk of death or anything but she wanted him to at least feel better when he woke up. 

She stopped touching his arm and headed back outside. She places his file on the door and moves on to the next patient. 

By the end of her shift, she checked up on the man again. The results came back and it was what Nadia had feared. Nadia suspected that she was going to have to get used to patients that are affected by Fever. It is going to be extremely difficult, if the actions are hyper-violent it may be a problem when they come out of their high. Or even worse, if they’re still experiencing the drug when they wake up. 

Nadia and Harry ended their shift at around the same time. Tanya got off a few hours after the two of them started. She clocked out and sought Nadia out to tell her goodbye and that it was nice to have her back. 

“We were thinking about going out to drink at the end of the week to celebrate you coming back,” Harry told her. 

“By all means, I support this initiative.” Nadia grinned matching Harry’s. 

“I knew you would.”

“I didn’t get to see Allison today, is she doing well?” Nadia asked, remembering the absence of the nurse.  
  
“She’s been taking different days for some reason, I’m not sure. She said she missed you but I haven’t heard much from her. She was the person who proposed the celebration.” 

Nadia was relieved to hear the woman was doing okay. “Well, I’m glad. I’d like to catch up, officially with all of you.”

The two of them parted ways after heading home. 

Nadia realized she hadn’t gotten news on Harry’s home situation since she had been on resting duty. She will question him the next time they go out. Hopefully, things are better somehow but she could never predict. 

Harry looked pretty happy in Nadia’s opinion so maybe that’s a good thing. Or perhaps it was a front. Harry does enjoy faking fine, much to Nadia’s worry. 

On Nadia’s way back to her apartment, she stopped by Enzo’s and got her usual. Carbonara and cherry pie. The perfect Nadia Kim comfort food. 

Unlike the last time she went out for her usual after-work grub, there was no figure clad in black that fell from the sky in front of her. Nadia thanked the heavens. It was a good sign.

She’s back on her groove, again. 

Nadia got home and ate her dinner. She was checking up on the news to see if anything was new. There were only the usual updates of community activities. Some rich Gothamlites worked together to start outreach programs for the homeless. Noble and appreciative but boring. 

Without even realizing it, Nadia had unconsciously checked to see if there was any news on her vigilante friend. Throughout her recovery, she’d make it a habit to check up on what was going on in the city. Mainly it was to see if Batman was okay but then seeing other happy news updates about the city wasn’t so bad either. 

Nadia was halfway through with her food when she heard a thud in her apartment. Looking over to the living room, she jumped at the looming man. 

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Or think. 

“Oh my God,” Nadia held her chest steadying her breathing. “What did we say about texting?” 

Nadia’s normal included Batman now. How could she forget? It also included heart attacks. This guy had no tact. 

“I did.”

Nadia looked at him like he grew two heads. No way he did, Nadia was watching the news on her phone. She would have seen the notification. 

Nadia goes to her message app and sees that yes, Boatman did send her a text message letting her know he was on his way. In Nadia’s tunnel vision of the news, she must’ve accidentally swiped the notification away before she even saw it. 

Nadia looked back up at the man and laughed weakly. “That’s my bad, yeah. That’s on me.”

Batman looks at her for a while, instead of responding to her apology. He was judging her. Nadia didn’t doubt it. 

“You look better,” he commented.

Oh, not what she was expecting but it was welcomed.

Nadia smiled. Her powers came through once again. In actuality, Nadia might drop dead any second from exhaustion. She’s glad it tricked the detective. It made things easier on her end. 

“Thank you, I try.” Nadia shrugs. “So, am I in top condition to help you out with flesh wounds again, Boss?”

“You’re the doctor.”

Nadia glared at the man. “Oh, so when I’m healthy, I’m the doctor but when I was a little tired my opinions didn’t matter?”

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t continue that line of conversation instead he said, “I’m working on a new case.” 

Batman should count his blessings that she wasn’t genuinely upset with him since she was in a good mood from her first day back. She might have ripped him a new one for how he blatantly changed the subject. Instead, she entertained it. 

“Very cute,” Nadia smiled. 

His frown turned slightly more downward but didn’t question Nadia’s odd choice of words to show interest. “It’s about a toxin that has been found in the dead bodies of notable figures.” 

“Ah, so not that cute… Got it...” Nadia grimaced. She thought over the other cases that she’s heard from the Dark Knight. “Another case about biological warfare? First, that weird bacteria and now a new toxin. Are you only coming to me with medical-related cases?” 

“Can you blame me?” 

Nadia’s eyes widened, “How many cases are you usually working at once? Have you busted the Fever operation, yet?”

“That one will probably be done in the upcoming week if all goes according to plan.” 

“You’ve been busy.” 

Batman nods, “This new one is just a hunch I have on the mastermind.” 

“Well, unless you came here for some wound I can’t detect on you, I don’t know how I’m any help in this case.” 

Batman pauses for a second before speaking. Was he hesitating? He never hesitated. Nadia couldn’t determine if that was a good or a bad thing. 

“At this moment, there is a certain figure at Gotham General right now, receiving care. I need a sample of their blood so that I can try to figure out how to combat the toxin and where it comes from. They have high-level security and so getting in to take one isn’t going to be easy. I’m asking you to get your hands on a sample however you can.” 

“I-” Nadia started but she could barely process what he asked yet. “What!?”

How could he ask her to steal blood from a patient? Was he insane? He has to know that she could be stripped of her license for doing something so irresponsible. Nadia frowned. 

  
“Are you serious?” Nadia asked the most serious man she knows. “I can’t believe you even entertained this option.”

“It’s vital to prevent this from happening to someone else. The toxin would be a clue as to who these people are and how I could stop them. Whatever you need to help you do it, I have. I will support you through it.”

Nadia’s head spun. “Batman, with all due respect. I helped heal you. Then, I sent some drug samples to a lab I know. All of which isn’t that bad. But I don’t try to steal blood from people without them knowing. That’s unethical. I want to help you but I have limits, you know? Like, workplace integrity ethics.” 

Batman doesn't say anything. He just watched her. 

Nadia’s eyebrows furrowed, staring back at the man. She didn’t doubt the detective caught on that she was not joking. Like this was the one thing she would not joke about. She couldn't even believe he thought that she would agree if anything suggesting it was insulting to her and her profession as a doctor. 

“You don’t have to do something you’re not comfortable with doing. I thought it wouldn’t mean as much to you. I… miscalculated.”

Now, it was Nadia’s turn to study the man. Miscalculated, he said. Nadia wonders if he felt emotions or if he was some advanced robot. Miscalculated. What a strange thing to say. Despite that, she didn’t want to give him a bad time if he was being kind about her unwillingness to help.

“Thank you,” Nadia decides on saying. “I’m up for helping you whenever I can. But not only is this my job on the line, but I also don’t agree with the moral of it because you know I can’t ask for this person’s permission. If it’s the end of the world, I would make an exception for the greater good but you’re Batman, I don’t doubt you know how to get it by other means in this situation.”

He nodded, “Understood.” 

Nadia appreciated that he respected her limitations and abided by them. She didn’t think they would be in a world where he would request something like that from her so she was glad he didn’t take offense to her rejection.

  
“So,” Nadia started after a few pauses. “Regarding Fever, are you going to work on limiting the spread of the drug after the bust?”

Batman’s head tilted a tad. “Why do you ask?” 

  
“Today we got the first patient that I’m aware of, and it’s awful. Overdosing is scarily easy. They only had a little bit in their system but they were completely passed out because of it.” 

Batman muddled over Nadia’s words. “Taking down the main distributor will help decrease the number of people who get access to the drug but it’s already making its way through communities as we speak. It’s not easy to keep track of every dealer.”

Nadia frowned but she understood. It was impractical. She hated hard drugs; they were some of the worst things you could put in your body. Nadia understood weed for the most part because it wasn’t as dire but the pills were too much. Nadia sees first-hand every day the effect it has on people and their loved ones. 

“If you ever get a patient with Fever in their system, let me know,” Batman told her. She looked back up at the man, questioning. “The faster I know the person and their connections, the faster it’ll be to figure out the dealer. Try to get to the source before it spreads.”

Her eyes widened, he was going to try to bust the dealers and get rid of the drugs. Nadia couldn’t believe it. Sure, she suggested it but even she was aware of how big the suggestion was. The man was insane. Nadia couldn’t help but feel pretty happy about him taking her request seriously. 

“I’ll let you know as soon as they come in,” Nadia tried to hide a smile. “How have you been? It’s been a while and you look healthy enough.” 

“Wouldn’t want my doctor to be upset.” 

Nadia allowed the corners of her mouth to quirk up, despite her silent protest. “Goodman.” 

“Since, I just wanted to ask you about the patient. I’ll get going.” 

Batman, in all of the times that Nadia has seen him, hadn’t looked quite as awkward as this moment. Nadia suspects that people who worked with him didn’t say no to him often. 

Nadia nodded and called at the man who was walking away, “If you need me, you know where I’m at.”

Then he was gone, yet again. 

Nadia sighed. She had to admit, she’s missed the man and the fact that their conversation went so rocky made her feel uneasy. So much for normalcy. Missing a vigilante’s company was not something that normal people do. Nadia needed to get better at sorting her priorities.

After finishing up all of her food, Nadigot gets ready to bed. 

She was so exhausted that after the lack of sleep, the whole day, and Batman’s visit that when her head hit her pillow, she was out. 

This was something that Nadia embraced. Everything was normal again like she thought it’d be. No nightmares. Just a dreamless night. 

Everything was fine.

—🝰—

“Dr. Kim, there’s someone here that wants to speak to you,” Allison told her. 

Nadia glanced up from her writing to the nurse. Allison had a faraway look in her eyes. Allison was strangely not present at the moment, that much was easy to point out. Nadia didn’t understand what got her in such a daze. Allison was energetic but never quite whimsical like how she was right now. 

“Who is it? Is it urgent? I’m writing up a prescription,” Nadia told her. She went back to writing some antibiotics for a patient. 

“He said that he would wait,” Allison responded, glazed over eyes. She wasn’t even looking at Nadia anymore. 

“So, it’s a he?” Nadia hummed. “Who is this ‘he’? I’m not expecting anyone.” 

“I think you should see for yourself, you might not even believe it.” Nadia glanced up to the nurse, again. What was Allison going on about? Nadia shook her head and went back to the paper. She could worry about it later. Nadia checked her watch momentarily. She had to say; this person had perfect timing because she was about to go on her break soon. 

“He’s at the desk, you can’t miss him,” Allion told her.

“I’ll go after dropping this off,” Nadia smiled. “Thank you for letting me know.” 

Allison left and Nadia went back to writing the prescriptions, finally finishing it. It took her longer than anticipated due to Allison’s interruption. She sighed as she finished it and headed out.

Nadia went to her patient who was suffering from a pretty bad cold that wasn’t letting up anytime. She handed him her prescription paper of a pretty strong Theraflu medicine. After, letting him know that by the end of the first week there hadn’t been any improvements to come back and let the doctor know. However, if there were improvements to continue taking the dosages and rest up. 

Nadia directed the nurse to get the patient checked out and walked out of the room, bidding him goodbye. 

Nadia walked over to the receptionist area and saw exactly why Allison was so much in a daze. Nadia stopped in her tracks. Bruce Wayne was standing near the desk. He was on his phone, just waiting around. 

No way he would be visiting her. Wait, maybe this was what Allison was talking about when she said that Nadia wouldn’t have believed her. 

Nadia’s narrowed her eyes at the man. What was he doing here?

Nadia noticed that every time she tuned in on the news, Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises were always mentioned. Whichever was mentioned determined the news.

If Wayne Enterprises were the name, then it would be about new technological advancements or outreach programs. If Bruce Wayne was the name then it was about the latest party the man attended and what woman he was spotted with leaving said party. 

She didn’t particularly like the man based on his reputation but she had to admit the company he was running wasn’t one to ignore. Despite all of the things that Nadia hated in big corporations, it seemed like Wayne Enterprises was giving back as much as they were taking from the community. A lot of things, from homeless shelters to abortion clinics were being funded by the company. Nadia hadn’t known previously but over her month of rest, she was able to research. It was quite impressive, she didn’t know any other company that was doing what Wayne Enterprise was doing. 

With all that in mind, why would the CEO of a big shot company be waiting in Gotham General’s humble waiting room? 

A million and one questions spiraled through her head as she watched the man text something on his phone.

Regardless, she couldn’t lose her cool after literally being carried by the man in front of her a month ago. Remembering about her wound made her sigh, what a terrible thing. 

Nadia made a pact to herself that she would not make a fool of herself in front of the man more than she already did. Operation Play-it-Cool was a go. 

Nadia walked up to the woman at the receptionist, Nancy. Nadia wasn’t familiar with the woman since her shifts were usually in the night and not during the day. She smiled at the woman, “Hi, Allison told me that someone was here to see me?”

Nancy’s eyes widened and her eyes shifted to Nadia’s left, where Bruce Wayne was standing. Just as Nadia thought, it wasn’t a coincidence.

“That would be me,” his voice rang through the waiting area. 

Nadia turned around pretending that ‘Yes, this is the first time I saw you since I got here’.

Nadia’s eyes widened in a look of awe, and if she was honest with herself, it wasn’t as fake as she wanted to believe. C’mon, this was Bruce Wayne we’re talking about. Nadia could be honest with herself. “Mr. Wayne, I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I didn’t know how to contact you,” Bruce Wayne smiled, and if Nadia weren’t strong enough, she would have ended up in a daze as Allison did. “I wanted to make sure that you were okay, we didn’t exactly have time to catch up since everything that happened.” 

“Right,” Nadia agreed and now she was blatantly just staring at the man. 

His face was too much. Nadia had to admit, Bruce Wayne helping her out during the commotion of the Gala had made her opinion of him turn way more positive than she’d like to admit. The woman who also got shot in the foot that Nadia spoke to had a point. Receiving help during life-threatening situations does give you a different view of a person. For the woman it was Batman, for Nadia it was Bruce Wayne and Catwoman.

“Well,” Nadia started, realizing that the pause went on for way too long. “I’m doing fine, uhm, I will probably always have a scar on my foot now. Maybe even a sprinkle of trauma here and there. And most importantly, a leg that’s slightly weaker than the other. It’s nothing that I can’t bounce back from, though. I do have to thank you, Mr. Wayne. You didn’t have to help me out there but you did and I appreciate it.” 

“I was wondering if there was anything else I could help out with.” Bruce Wayne gave Nadia a look of concern and his eyes did a little puppy dog thing that made her feel like melting. It was as annoying as it was charming. Nadia had to remind herself that she was strong. She was stronger than his charms. “I’ve been concerned ever since that night and I couldn’t get ahold of you until today. I’d like to help pay for any medical expenses or extra bills that you might have had from the night.” 

Nadia almost laughs at his suggestion but she saved face. “Mr. Wayne, I’m a doctor at the same hospital that hosted the gala where I got shot. I got pretty much the best care that I could ask for and on top of that, the hospital offered to pay and cover for any missed work when I was recovering. I assure you that there aren't any medical or extra expenses even if I wanted there to be.” 

Bruce Wayne gave her a defeated smile. “That’s unfortunate, I wanted to try to help you out” 

“If anything you already helped me out. I mean, c’mon I’m a doctor but even in that situation, I wasn’t doing my best to see that I wasn’t as okay as I thought I was. You were the one to carry me out of the gala. I should be treating you to like lunch or something.” 

“No, I couldn’t ask that of you.” Bruce Wayne shook his head. Nadia couldn’t help but think that he was polite for such a playboy. Maybe he didn’t find her attractive which was even better. 

On that note, an impulsive and un-Nadia thing popped up in her head. Nadia wondered if she could get a date with Bruce Wayne. 

One should never equate their achievements to something that relates to a man. However, she would get some serious street cred if she could go on a date with Gotham’s infamous Bruce Wayne.

Nadia had just got shot. She was speaking to a billionaire that sought her out specifically for the first time in her life. I mean, the stars were aligning. Just one date with the man and then she would never speak to him ever again. 

It would be fun. Plus, she’d have one hell of a story to tell people about her prime. 

Got shot at the expense of going on a date with the most eligible and desired bachelor of Gotham City. It wasn’t something that Nadia could just give up on.

Target locked. 

“Oh, I insist,” Nadia smiled, it was uncharacteristically pretty. “You helped me out so much and I would feel awful if I didn’t do something or you even a little bit.”

“I don’t know…” Bruce Wayne smiled, a glint in his eye.

“I mean if you want to help me out. Help me, by allowing me to treat you to something as a sign of my gratitude.”

Of course, everything Nadia was saying was coming out of her ass. The man just carried her out of the building. It wasn’t like he was Batman or anything. Or even Catwoman during the altercation. However, she had to sell it. He seemed like a nice person, anyways. She couldn’t imagine him saying no to someone who just got shot. If he did, what would his PR team say?

Bruce Wayne studied her for a bit and relented to the doctor, “Okay.”

Not going to lie, Nadia didn’t think that would work. At least, not as quickly. The man didn’t even put up a fight.

“Okay,” Nadia smiled, choosing not to question it. She looked over at the desk, found a card and pen, and scribbled numbers on it. “Here is my number, text me, and I’ll let you know when I’m free so that we can schedule lunch. I have to head back right now. I’m on break and I need to get some food in my stomach.”

Bruce Wayne grabbed the card between two fingers and pocketed it without even looking at it. 

“I’ll speak to you later, then.” 

Nadia nods, “Do you need me to direct you out?” 

“I got it. Thank you, Dr. Kim. We’ll be in contact.” Nadia watched Bruce Wayne walk to the elevator and when he turned to face her again, he was greeted with a smile and a wave goodbye.

Nadia turned around as the elevator doors closed. Holy shit. That was nerve-wracking. Nadia decided that that will be the last time that she will ever be as forward as that ever again. 

Nadia turned to the receptionist to bid her goodbye but was met with a strange look. 

“Is there something wrong?” 

“Nothing,” Nancy told her, grinning quite maniacally. It was kind of creepy. “I’m just impressed that you got yourself a date with Bruce Wayne.”

Nadia’s eyes widened. Of course, Nancy was listening in, it wasn’t like the two were far away. If Nadia has known anything about a workplace, gossip spreads faster than the actual illnesses they diagnose. Nadia needed damage control and she needed it quickly. 

“It’s not a date, Nancy,” Nadia laughs as if the woman was ridiculous for even assuming so. She could feel it painfully being ungenuine, though. “I’m treating him because he helped me when I was shot. I’m making the playing field even. I don’t want to owe Bruce Wayne anything and he seems like a nice guy.” 

Nancy nodded, “Mm-kay.”

Despite Nancy’s words, Nadia could hear the disbelief in her tone. 

Nadia sighs and walks off. Sometimes, Nadia had to take a second and think things through a bit more before doing things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentines to everyone in great relationships whether it's with someone else, with your friends, or even yourself! It's a great day to celebrate the relationships you've cultivated with others and within yourself. Hope you guys are having a great day! I also can't forget to wish you guys a Happy Lunar New Year! May 2021 treat you with good health, wealth, and tremendous luck.
> 
> I wanted to quickly thank: AJ_winchestor, Nostalgia_Gotho3, ShaquilleOatmeal, and alexaveil for consistently commenting on every new chapter. I appreciate your engagement in talking to you about the story and anything DC related every week. It's super fun. Just like how you guys anticipate a new update/chapter, I anticipate your response to the story. So, thank you so much! :)
> 
> Thank you so much for supporting the story and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)


	11. Nadia and Batman are Intoxicated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a doctor in Gotham isn’t what it’s cut out to be. It’s not all gory and gruesome as it seems, sure it’s not rainbows and sunshine but Nadia Kim makes due. One night, she made the decision to aid the Dark Knight when he was in need of medical assistance. What Nadia didn’t know was that the Dark Knight had a knack for needing medical assistance… a lot. 
> 
> Between Batman breaking into her apartment and long shifts in the emergency room, Nadia really just wanted to live a normal life and take a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> />  
> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)

Nadia was called over by the one and only Coleman. Yes, it’s going to be very terrible and no Nadia did not miss this part of her job.

Nadia went up a few floors to the fancy administration floor to his office. She didn’t know why the man could want to see her, they’ve only had a few interactions since she came back. He was like Tanya said, awfully polite and mindful. It was a nice change of pace but Nadia feared how long that would last. 

She knocked on his door and entered when he called for her to do so. 

“You called?” Nadia asked standing in front of the man’s office where he sat.

Every time Nadia visited his office, she would zone in on the plaques that were proud and present for anyone to witness. Nadia didn’t have a particular problem with them but they were better to look at when he wasn’t making eye contact with her.

“Yeah,” he said, not even looking up at her from his paperwork. “There’s a patient I want you to take a look at.” 

And there it was, he was ignoring her, and Nadia, out of habit, studied around the room she’s seen a million times before. There was something particular, Coleman has a lot more owl decor for some reason. The last time Nadia visited his office was around four months ago. He had no animal preferences then, Nadia didn’t understand where this sudden love came from. 

There was a strange owl mask that was behind his desk, slightly obscured from view but just enough for people who were looking to find it. Nadia shrugged it off, focusing on the case at hand.

Nadia had never been called in to consult before. She couldn't even imagine a time where she was considered to help another patient specifically; most doctors were able to handle it especially if they were more experienced. If this was stumping some of the best doctors, then this might be big.

“Who’s the patient?” She asked.   
  
“You’ll get the file. They’re on the 6th floor.” 

Woah, the 6th floor means big money. That’s why they want a lot of consultation. It was a rich person with some threatening condition. What a double standard compared to the people who aren’t privileged. Nadia wanted to scoff but she held it in. She needed to remind herself that she was also on the 6th floor after the Gala. She was a part of the privilege and she only had a gunshot. Nadia couldn’t guess whatever it is this notable figure had to deal with. 

“Room?” 

“628,” he told her. “Here’s a card for clearance.” 

He waved at a card on his desk attached to a lanyard, still hyper-focused on his paperwork. 

Nadia walked up and swiped the card and pocketed it. 

“You want me to do it now?”

“Yes, Dr. Kim,” He said in an exasperated tone. Nadia’s eyes narrowed at the man but didn’t comment further on what he was saying. Whatever. She could care less about the attitude. Nadia was a rational human being. 

“I’ll get going then,” Nadia turned around and walked out of the office, towards the elevators.

So, a high profiled individual required medical attention that other doctors and her senior weren’t able to provide for him. 

Nadia didn’t know if she should be worried this could be something that was set up to fail from the beginning. If it were that serious, she'd try to use her powers to heal the person.

She walked up the room and there were two security guards in front of it. Nadia did not expect that.

“Authorization?” One of the two men asked. 

They both looked the same. White, sunglasses, and a suit with an earpiece on the opposite ear, away from the door. Their stature reminded her of Batman but smaller, more compact. That was saying something, Batman already physically looked like he was going to burst with muscles.

Nadia got her badge from her jacket, dangling it in front of the security team. “I was asked by my superior to consult the patient’s condition.”

The one that spoke held up the badge to her face and read through it. 

“What’s your name?” 

Asking for a name wasn’t standard procedure, seeing her ID hanging from her coat jacket would have been enough. Nadia studied his face, she can only assume that he was looking at her. She was staring at her reflection from the tint of the sunglasses, more than anything. The overly serious frown couldn’t be mistaken though. Man, and she thought Batman was a hardass. 

“Dr. Nadia Kim,” Nadia told her reflection.

“Dr. Kim, you just need to scan the card and you can get through. The file should be on the back of the door inside.” 

He moved over to the pad and Nadia tapped the card making the light flash green. Nadia nodded at the two in thanks as she walked inside. 

The room was spacious and even luxurious for a hospital recovery room. There were a couch and a coffee table with a rug for crying out loud. If there was a stove, this place would be an apartment. Nadia didn’t like the fact that this floor even existed. The privileged will get special treatment and the misfortuned will have to endure cramped spaces. 

Nadia scoffs at the thought and thinks that the “misfortuned” are the ones that get a guaranteed recovery though. Nadia was the one down in general or the ER where regular people go to and not up here. 

It’s fair if we’re talking about the distribution of service. However, Nadia still didn’t like the looks of a rich person on a hospital bed as much as a poor person. 

Nadia didn’t get to see who the person in the bed was. She turned around and grabbed the file. 

Oh my God. 

Charlotte Hudson. 

She was the founder of one of Gotham's leading science facilities. Nadia had only heard of her in the news. She never really popped up that often. She enjoyed her privacy and talked to select interviewers whenever something big happened regarding the Lab.

Nadia had to admit that she only knew about her from Sally. Whenever Sally talks about the science in Gotham she would talk about Biological Advanced Research Labs. It’s something that Nadia could pay attention to and Sally was excited about. 

Nadia couldn’t believe that something bad had happened to the CEO. Nadia couldn’t imagine. 

Nadia looked back down at the file. There were a couple of notes written by nurses and previous doctors on the diagnoses. Most of them had concluded that it was some type of slow-acting poison. 

Woah, poison is intense. Nadia’s never had a case like this before.

There was scribbling as to what kind could be but nothing was definite. 

The doctors didn’t know what it was. Her blood was being tested. It’s been a long time though and there had been no indication as to what it was. It could be something new. 

Nadia went up to the woman and looked at the vitals. Everything was normal except her heart rate was extremely low. Nadia frowned. She looked back at the door and the window. The men’s backs were still facing her. 

She placed the back of her hand on the woman’s forehead and delved into her biology. 

Toxin? 

Like what Batman was talking about?

This must be the mystery patient that he wanted a blood sample from. 

Toxins. There were toxins in her bloodstream and it was infiltrating her major organs. Nadia didn’t understand why the toxin was slow-acting. If this were some type of hit job that was targeted, then it would be fast-acting wouldn’t it? Get the job done? 

Nadia wondered if she should heal the woman. 

On one hand, it’s the obvious thing to do. Nadia was a doctor and with her powers, she could explain the toxins out of her body. 

On the other hand, it would be so obvious that she had something on her sleeves. 

Batman would know if he found out she visited the CEO. It was Batman plus he might need a sample still so she could be ruining it for him to get a sample. 

Coleman would surely know something was amiss. If every other doctor couldn’t figure it a regular room wouldn’t have anything like that but rich people love their privacy. As much it grosses Nadia out, there are a lot more security concerns for people with money. 

If anyone were looking at her right now, they would only assume that Nadia was taking her temperature right now. It’s all good. Right? 

It’s all good. 

The pros outweigh the cons.

When it comes down to it, the woman would die if Nadia did not do something about her right now. Nadia estimated that the toxin would finish its work in the next few days. She didn’t know how to toxin works so she couldn’t take it to chance, it could accelerate for no reason today or tomorrow. As much as Nadia feared for her powers to be revealed, Nadia went into this field to save lives. She’s not going to sit back and do anything. 

Nadia pushed her powers into the woman and metabolized the toxins.

The beeping of the heart monitor speeds up just a tad afterward. 

Nadia sighed. That was tiring. Poisons weren’t something that she was used to fighting off.

She put back her hand. Finished.

Nadia did a show of her checking some more basic things, in case someone was watching. Nothing out of the ordinary Nadia had reported a much healthier report than the doctors before her. 

Nadia would have to let Coleman know that whatever the CEO was experiencing had miraculously disappeared and hoped he didn’t ask questions afterward.

Nadia placed the file back on the door and exited the room. 

Walking past the guards, she headed back to Coleman’s office. 

Knocking before entering she greeted the man once again. 

He looked up, “What do you think?”

Nonchalant, you are nonchalant. For the love of God, you are not chalant. 

Nadia shrugged and went on to explain everything that she noticed post-heal. Afterward, she said, “Everything seemed pretty normal to me. I think whatever she had, passed.”

“It passed?” 

Nadia nodded, “I saw the notes about the poison, I think that her body metabolized it since it was taking too long. Her heart rate was previously recorded to be low but now I record it to be coming back up at a steady rate. Nothing we should be concerned about.”

Coleman looked down at his paperwork and leaned back in a chair that was pretentiously too big for him. 

“Five other doctors came in before you.” 

Nadia’s heart stopped. Of course, five other doctors came in before her. She knew that it wasn’t a problem. Nadia wasn’t freaking out, she was nonchalant. 

“How is it that you’re the only one recording normal symptoms?” 

Hahaha… Sound the alarm. Things were not fine and Nadia was so close to freaking out. 

Nadia shrugged once again because she was not freaking out right now. “I don’t know what you could be saying. It’s just what I saw. The human body is kind of insane like that, you know, miracles happen all the time in a hospital. It’s the reason why we have a chapel, right?”

Coleman’s eyes narrowed to slits, Nadia didn’t think she’d ever seen him frown so deeply in her life. “I don’t want to accuse you but are you lying about your diagnostics, Dr. Kim?”

Nadia’s mouth opened agape. What did he say? Lying about diagnostics? Nadia was a lot of things, a powerful healer being one of them, but she didn’t lie about what she reported. 

“You do get a full recovery every single time that seems to check out,” He continued. “I couldn’t be surprised to find out you weren’t exactly honest.”

“With all due respect, what a ridiculous thing to say,” Nadia frowned at her boss. “You can go down there and check for yourself. I would never in my life lie about the things I report, that’s essential to someone’s health. I truly believe some miracle happened if the toxin was so persistent and it’s now slowing down.”

“Okay, I’ll go and check.” 

“I suggest that you do.”

“You’re free to go,” he waved her off. 

Nadia huffed and turned to storm out of the room. Except she walked lightly and quickly. And she didn’t leave a ruckus in her wake. And she closed the door softly so that she wouldn’t disturb the other superiors. Storm out might have been a bit much.

She was upset but she wasn’t irrational. 

Nadia went back down to her floor and was greeted by Tanya. 

“What happened to you?” Tanya’s eyes widened at the sight of her as soon as the elevator door opened. 

“Coleman,” Nadia grumbled. To be fair his suspicions were accurate but his conclusions made her ticked off. “It’s always Coleman.” 

“You poor thing,” Tanya frowned. “I’m going down to the cafeteria, you wanna join and get your mind off things through pudding cups?”

Nadia glanced at a clock behind the woman, she’s on her break now. It wouldn’t hurt. She nodded. 

“That's what I thought,” Tanya grinned and got into the elevator, pressing the ground floor button. 

“How’s your day been, Tanya?” Naida asked to fill in the silence. Tanya was a talker, Nadia was comfortable with silence but with Tanya it was different. Tanya’s comfort comes from her speaking and communicating. It’s something that Nadia found fascinating about the woman. She reminded her of Sally in that way.

“It’s been fine,” Tanya smiled. “The usual patients. Nothing too difficult but there was this one patient with second-degree burns. Pretty girl, it was heartbreaking to see her crying about her looks.” 

Nadia nods along as they walk out of the elevator once it stopped and opened. 

Tanya continued her talk about her day. Tanya always says it’s a normal day and then goes on to talk more in detail about notable patients. The two of them got food from the food court and sat down, getting situated. 

“So, that’s all of my days,” Tanya finished. “What’s wrong with you, hon?”

Naida perused her lips. She thought over her words. “It’s not that I don’t understand where Coleman is coming from but accusing me of lying about the way I diagnose patients was unprofessional as hell.” 

“He said that?” Tanya asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“I know, I was shocked too. He was saying how weird it was that my recovery rate was so high and that since it was unlikely I had to be doing something slick.” 

To be fair, Naida was doing slick stuff. Of course, it could never be disclosed. Nadia, with the help of Sally, had perfected the art of lying about her powers. Couldn’t say the same about general things but it was something. 

“That’s ridiculous,” Tanya shook her head. 

  
“That’s literally what I told him,” Nadia grinned at the similar word choice. “Whatever, he’ll go back and check and see that I’m right and eat his words. I don’t even want to think about it anymore.” 

“Then let’s talk about something else for a while,” Tanya suggested. “Do you want to talk about something or do you want me to talk about something?” 

“I have nothing going on,” Nadia sighed. “You should let me know what’s going on with you. We probably won’t be able to talk one on one at the dinner Friday.” 

Tanya nodded, “Well, I’m considering retiring.”

Nadia paused in whatever tracks that she was doing and stared at the woman.

“Why?” Nadia asked. “You’re still young Tanya, you’ve got the pep in your step.” 

“I’m young but I’m old, Nadia,” Tanya grinned. “ER is great and I love helping but it’s getting too much for me. My joints can’t keep up.”

“Are you leaving for health concerns?”

“I’ve always said that I wanted to work until I couldn’t anymore.”

“Why don’t you work at a clinic?” Nadia asked. “It’s not as fast in pace and you’ll be able to be a nurse.” 

Tanya shrugs and Nadia for the first time realizes how much older the woman is. Her hair was graying, contrasting with her deep complexion. Her movements were less fluid and tighter. Nadia frowned at her mortality. Tanya didn’t like to admit to being attached to people because it never ends up good but she might have grown quite attached to the woman in the last two years of working with her. 

“I don’t know any doctors I trust, I think I can only be a nurse at a clinic where I knew the doctor beforehand. Security of knowing that I’ll be taken care of you know?” 

“Should I open a clinic just so that we can continue working together?” Nadia mumbled. 

Tanya laughed, “Don’t be silly.” 

Nadia smiled at the woman, despite her rejection. “I’m happy that you’re thinking for yourself but I gotta say, on behalf of the hospital, I’m sad to see you go.” 

“It won’t happen soon but it’s approaching. I think I may be finished by the end of the year.” 

“Eight more months.”

“Yup.”

“That’s insane, Tanya. I’m happy for you, though. I’m glad you can retire comfortably. You deserve a long break from all the chaos.”

“I think I do too,” Tanya smiled.    
  


“Do the others know?”

She shook her head at Nadia, “Nope, you’re the first to know Dr. Kim. How do you feel?” 

“Honestly? Sad. I could see Harry crying if you tell him.” 

Tanya laughed, “He is emotional isn’t he?”

Nadia giggled, “Very.” 

The two talked about other miscellaneous things afterward until their food was finished and their lunch was over. Nadia and Tanya headed back up into the third floor to continue their shift. 

Despite Naida’s efforts to not think about whether or not healing the CEO on the sixth floor was right, she felt it still lingering in the back of her mind. 

—🝰—

“A week back and I’m finished!” Nadia cheered. 

Harry smiled at the doctor. “Yeah, only the rest of your life to go.” 

Nadia grinned, “That’s child’s play.” 

“You're a masochist,” Harry shook his head. 

Nadia rolled her eyes, still smiling at the man.

Nadia, Harry, Tanya, and Allison were all at Enzo’s to celebrate Nadia being back to work and to catch up a bit.

The four sat at a booth at the back of the restaurant. It lacked a sufficient amount of light but it let them be as rowdy as they’d like without any complaints from neighboring tables. 

“Everything went well with your recovery?” Tanya asked. “I could have dropped by with more food if you needed.” 

Nadia could not describe the comfort this woman brings to her. Sally would always be the person that Nadia was grateful for and loved but Tanya is giving her competition. 

“You’re completely fine. You and Harry visiting, in the beginning, was enough. Seriously, don’t sweat it. And yeah, everything went as planned it was like nothing even happened.” 

“How are you doing mentally, that can't be easy to deal with,” Allison asked. 

Allison was such a sweet person and blunt. Very to the point. Harry and Tanya went around talking about Nadia’s mental health but Allison just goes for it without thinking. Good woman. Annoying for Nadia’s case but she appreciated it, despite that.

Nadia shrugs, “I’m honestly okay. I know everyone’s concerned but I think some of the patients we’ve encountered have left me far more traumatized than the gala.” 

They all gave her an unsure look. It was the same one that Sally gave Nadia when she said she was fine. Nadia was surrounded by easily worried people. But maybe it’s the people you attract because Nadia was quite the worrywart herself. Nadia couldn’t blame them but unlike Sally, they weren’t going to press about the issue. 

“You know yourself best. I’m glad to see you doing well, Nadia.” Tanya patted her shoulder. 

“I appreciate the concern..” 

The four moved onto other things that happened in their lives. All of their food and drinks arrived eventually. 

In the middle of talking, a topic came to Nadia’s mind. Nadia didn’t know if she could ask Harry about his relationship in such a group setting but before Nadia could send a text to ask if it was okay, Tanya beat her to the punch. 

“How are things with Tessa?” 

Was this perhaps a landmine conversation topic? 

Harry sighed, taking a swig of his drink. “We broke up, officially. She moved out.”

Nadia’s eyes bugged. “Officially?”

He nodded, “Cut ties. The whole shebang.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Tanya frowned, reaching over and holding his hand. “I understand breakups are hard but you gotta know that there will always be people around you who love and support you. You’ll be able to get over this. But if you’re hurting or whatever let us know, you’re allowed to not feel good after things happen.” 

He nodded, going silent afterward. 

Even though it wasn’t her business, Nadia had a bone to pick with Tessa. She didn’t know what was going on with the woman. Nadia swore the last time she spoke to her, Tessa raved on and on about how she would never in a million years want to break up with Harry. That went out the window fairly quickly. 

Of course, one can always change their mind but the two seemed to fit each other like a couple. They were always very good for one another, bringing the best out while also covering for some worse trait. 

Nadia shook her head, if it was done then it was good. Someone unhappy in a relationship shouldn’t stick with them. Nadia was mad on Harry’s behalf. She didn’t need to think about it anymore now that Harry has come to terms with what’s happened. Plus, Harry was young, it wasn’t like he couldn't find a match anytime soon or anything. 

They went on and spoke about anything and everything. Nadia was able to catch up with the three and their lives a bit. Then they moved unto local Gotham gossip and news. Then, to work drama which they laughed about because it was usually about who’s sleeping with who in residency.

By all that, Nadia had gone through quite a few drinks. Like maybe an unhealthy amount but she was finally out of work and she didn’t have a shift tomorrow so Harry encouraged her to have a good time. 

Eventually, the four of them realized it was getting late. 

“Don’t worry about it, Harry,” Nadia said. “I’m all good.” 

“You say that, but you in your drunkenness is a side of you not many people can handle,” After a beat he said. “Or cope with.” 

“I’m not even drunk,” Nadia retorted. “I just have to pee it out, drink some water, pee even more, and then take a cab home.” 

“Hon, you said that two glasses ago and your tab still isn’t closed,” Tanya pointed out. “You’re a borderline alcoholic when you’re drinking, sweetie. It’s not great.” 

“I’m not a borderline alcoholic. I’m in-line having a great time, Tanya. That’s the difference,” Naida did finger guns at the woman who shook her head. 

Harry and Allison all rolled their eyes at the woman. 

  
“Don’t think that the flush equates to me being drunk, it just means that my skin is reacting to the alcohol.” Nadia snapped her finger, “It’s the enzymes.” 

“No, what it is, is that it’s getting late,” Allison laughed. “You’re gonna close your tab and drink a bunch of water and then I’ll drive you home.” 

“Allison, you don’t need to drive me home. A shit ton of water sounds nice though.” 

They called over their waiter, asked for more water, and closed and paid their tabs. 

Nadia doesn’t say it but it’s pretty evident that these three were her favorite nurses to work with. She developed friendships with them. Not all nurses were as quaint as the three currently sitting with her but she felt like she hit the jackpot whenever they would work together. 

Not to mention. They were great human beings to hang out with outside of work and are never into scandals with other coworkers. It’s perfect. 

“So whatever happened to the man that you were seeing?” Tanya asked Nadia as they waited for water and their bills back.

“Huh? I was never seeing anyone.”

Tanya raised an eyebrow, “Some guy texted you a while ago.”

Allison and Harry both turned and gave her an expected stare. Harry and Nadia already talked about it so Nadia didn’t know why he thought she would say anything different from what he told her. 

Nadia groaned, regretting her actions of playing along with that one time she lied about Boatman. “It didn’t result in anything. We’ve cut ties. I’ve told Harry about this already.” 

Nadia may have been drunk but she needed to dispel this awful assumption. It was ruining her brand of being the peak single friend of the group.

The three gave her an unconvinced look, yet again. These three didn’t trust her words, did they? To be fair, they also knew when she’d bullshit. 

“Seriously!” Nadia exclaimed at the three. “I haven't been romantically affiliated with someone since my college years and even then, that was complicated. This time it was casual.” 

“Is it because you’re going on a date with Bruce Wayne soon?” Harry asked. 

Nadia’s head whipped over. “What!?”

“We have heard a peculiar rumor go around. A certain receptionist overheard an interesting conversation.” 

Nadia sighed, she knew it was unusually quiet on her end ever since Bruce Wayne came to the hospital to check up on her. Damn, you Nancy. You’ll rue the day. 

“I wanted to repay the favor of him helping me out,” Nadia shrugged. “That’s all. I’m not interested in Bruce Wayne. He's a billionaire. He lives on a completely different plane than me. I wouldn't ever genuinely associate myself with him willingly. I’ll pay for his lunch or something once and then we’ll never speak to each other again.” 

Harry shook his head. “You need to think long term. Bag the rich white guy. What are you doing?”

Nadia laughed. “I want the person who will be with me for the rest of my life to like me and for me to reciprocate the feeling, not just for money.” 

“Then, can I have him?” Allison grinned. 

Nadia shook her head, smiling. “He’s all yours Ally.”

“If you’re not seeing anyone, I have a nephew I could introduce you to if you’re ever interested.” Tanya shrugged. 

“Yes,” Nadia laughed. “I’m aware of the infamous nephew that you’re always trying to set me up with but I think I’ll manage. I’m not looking for a relationship, I can assure you.” 

The waiter came back with their things and the three-headed out. They all bid each other goodnight. Harry offered to drive her home despite her argument that she could just get a cab. Harry drank but he only did in the beginning. Harry had sobered up in the two hours after. Harry goes out to eat and mostly enjoys food. Nadia enjoys alcohol.

The drive to her apartment wasn’t so bad. Nadia remembered when he first drove her home one time because she was drinking and it was terrible. Nadia knew the type of neighborhood she resided in so she never expected any of her coworkers to come near her apartment but Harry’s place was on the way. Nadia had never visited so she didn’t know if he was lying or not. Nadia just believes what he said so that she didn’t feel guilty about it. 

She didn’t think that Harry, Tanya, or Allison would be judgemental about her neighborhood since a lot of Gotham is crime-ridden but if she could avoid one thing stressor, it’s a win for her. 

He dropped her off in front of her apartment complex. Harry offered to walk her to her door but she denied him. It was getting late she told him and he should be getting rest after their shifts. She thanked the man and told him that she would take a cab back to the hospital to get her car sometime tomorrow. After they told each other goodbye, Nadia headed inside the apartments.

On the drive, Nadia had sobered up a bit. Not so much because she did feel the effects on her body. Like, yes she was denying the fact that she was drunk but she was drunk. Nadia could easily metabolize the alcohol but sometimes it’s just nice to be normal and be drunk.

When she went to unlock her apartment door with her key, she missed four solid times before she was able to focus and insert. She turned the key and unlocked the door. 

Opening the door, she took off her shoes and threw her purse on the hook on her wall. 

Nadia looked up to her apartment and was faced with Batman lying on her armchair. 

Maybe she did need to stop drinking. 

Nadia blinked at the man. Being drunk did not make her scared about a black-clad man in her room. Wonderful. This is exactly what she needed. 

He was slumped over. She was able to see that his breathing was slowed down. Nadia walked over to the man and studied his features. He was in her apartment. 

Was he asleep? Does Batman sleep? Is that possible? Nadia giggled, Batman was nocturnal of course because he was a Bat. He does not sleep. 

The whites of his mask were darker than usual. Nadia put her face close to the man to see if his eyes were open. 

Nadia moved her hand up to the man. When she was going to touch him, his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist. Nadia gasped at the action, not expecting it. Ah, the physical touch will shock her, she’s glad that her nervous system was working a bit. 

“Are you drunk?” He spoke in a strained voice. 

Nadia had missed his sandpaper voice. It was rough but it was nice. Nadia missed Batman in general, he was fun. The three weeks without the man sucked so bad, he’s so fun. 

“Honestly? Yeah. Are you okay?” Nadia looked up and down he seemed so tense. “You don’t look okay.”

“Poison,” he breathed out and his head slouched back, staying that way. 

“Oh,” Nadia nodded her head and smiled. “That’s nice.”

Poison was difficult to treat. You’d need blood samples to figure out what was in his system. There was no telling what could happen to him or how long it would take for it to be fatal. Batman could die in Nadia’s living room in a few minutes if she didn’t act fast. That’s crazy. Good thing she wasn’t poisoned, she could just fix it up. Haha… Wait a minute…

“Oh shit!” Nadia cried.

There was nothing she could do medically at the moment. It wasn’t even like she knew what type of poison it was. If she did even at the hospital it would be late. She didn’t know if Batman was alert or not but she couldn’t let someone die on her watch. Especially if she could do something about it. Plus, why did Batman even come to her if it’s poison? They hadn’t seen each other since he asked her about the toxins. 

Nadia reached up, grabbed his face, and closed her eyes. No time for formalities. 

She pushed her powers into his body. Toxins. He was hit with a toxin. Wait this was the same as the one that Charlotte had. Did he get himself injected with the toxin? Was he stupid? 

Technically, they were both intoxicated at the moment. Haha… Crazy. 

Focus. 

The toxin couldn’t have been a neurotoxin because then he wouldn’t have been able to even reach her apartment, to begin with. Those things work fast. It must be a cytotoxin that affects the cells of his body and would react a bit slower to completely killing him. 

This cytotoxin was affecting the cell membranes and that's how it was getting through. Nadia forced his cells to have a faster turnover rate as well as deliver the toxin into his intestines. It was a difficult process because she had to make sure the corrupt cells were coming along with the cytotoxin so it could become waste. 

Nadia monitored and maneuvered the cells until they were safely in the waste system of his body. 

Nadia opened back up her eyes and looked up at the man. After a few moments, she still wasn’t sure if he was awake or not. 

Nadia’s vision was getting dark but she wasn’t blinking. Weird

Nadia’s sight went dark and she could distinctly hear the thud as she fell to the ground. 

Nadia realized that maybe alcohol and strange healing powers might not mesh well together. Anyways, sleep time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you have probably noticed, this is quite a late update. I thank you guys for being patient with me. Just to sum it up, I'm thinking of putting this story on a hiatus until the end of the semester, which would be at the beginning of May. 
> 
> I know! I know! I feel really terrible when the story I'm reading is being put on hiatus but I want to only work on this story when it's the only thing I'm focusing on. I want to make the story the best it can be with what I'm given and I'm way too distracted with school and even other writing projects at the moment. Rest assured that I've outline quite a bit of the story so it's not going anywhere and I will be writing the story here and there when I have time throughout the semester. I just wanted to let you guys know so it's not like I ghosted this story.
> 
> Thanks again for being patient and I hope that I see you guys again when I start up the updates again in May. :)
> 
> Thank you so much for supporting the story and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> ['The Art of Healing' Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04bVT5qebqKPxYcCU3ROZK?si=k3kqeGDCSde79pklAaK_jg)


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